Y Combinator Scraper

Extracts structured startup data from Y Combinator's public companies directory. Useful for investors, researchers, and recruiters needing company, founder, and job listing information.

Overview

This actor scrapes the Y Combinator companies directory based on a provided URL. It collects all companies matching the search filters embedded in that URL, with options to include founder profiles and open job postings. Data is exported in JSON, CSV, or Excel format.

Key Features

• Comprehensive Scraping: Extracts all companies matching the criteria in your provided directory URL.
• Flexible Filtering: Use Y Combinator's own URL filters (batch, industry tags, status, location) to narrow results.
• Detailed Data: Captures company profiles, founder information (with social links), and open job listings (including salary and experience where available).
• Structured Output: Exports clean data in JSON, CSV, or Excel formats.
• Reliable Execution: Automatically saves progress after each company is processed.

Input Parameters

Configure the actor run using these input fields.

Output

The actor returns an array of company objects. Each object contains the following fields.

Company Data (Always Included)

• company_image, company_name, url, short_description, long_description
• batch, status, tags (array), company_location
• year_founded, team_size, website
• company_linkedin, company_x, is_hiring, number_of_open_jobs

Founder Data (If scrapeFounders: true)

• founders: An array of objects with name, linkedin, and x fields.

Job Data (If scrapeOpenJobs: true)

• open_jobs: An array of objects with title, description_url, location, salary, and years_experience fields.

How to Use

1. Configure Input: Create a task with your desired parameters. For example, to scrape the Winter 2024 batch with founders and jobs:
   json { "url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies?batch=Winter%202024", "scrapeFounders": true, "scrapeOpenJobs": true }
2. Run the Actor: Start the task. It will process all companies matching the URL.
3. Get Results: Download the dataset from the actor run in your preferred format (JSON, CSV, or Excel).

Limitations & Notes

• Public Data Only: Scrapes only information visible on the public Y Combinator website.
• Language: All extracted data is in English.
• Data Freshness: Information reflects the state of the website at the time of the scrape.
• Rate Limiting: Sending a very high volume of requests in a short time may trigger temporary access limits.

Troubleshooting Tip: If no results are returned, double-check that your input URL is a valid Y Combinator companies directory link and that your filters match existing companies.