/ Yield Index / Y Combinator
Y Combinator
Tier 1 Accelerator · 7% equity for $500K + $1.5M SAFE
A-
Excellent (A-) — Cohort Yield Grade
The gold-standard tech accelerator. Strong on founder outcomes — alumni include the largest cohort of unicorns in startup history. Equity terms (7% for $500K) are clean and unchanged since 2009. The 2014-2024 batch size growth has produced some dilution of mentor density, but the brand and network compounding remain category-leading. Demo Day yield consistently the highest in the industry.
91
Composite / 100
Where this grade comes from.
Equity Terms Fairness
A
Founder Outcomes
A
Mentor Quality
A-
Demo Day Yield
A
Post-Program Network
A
Key events & disclosures.
- 7% for $500K terms unchanged since 2009 inception
- Alumni cohort: Stripe, Airbnb, Doordash, Coinbase, Reddit, Twitch, Dropbox, etc.
- Batch size grew from ~10 to ~200+ per batch
- Garry Tan CEO since 2023
/ Best for
Pre-seed to seed-stage founders building scalable software or consumer products who can execute on a 3-month intensive timeline.
/ Watch out for
Acceptance rate <1%. Batch-size growth has reduced 1-on-1 partner time per founder. Demo Day is increasingly performative; investor outcomes vary by batch quality.