Y Combinator’s Winter Is Coming For 28 Indian Startups

Winter has come for Indian startups! Silicon Valley-based accelerator programme Y Combinator has reportedly shortlisted 28 Indian startups for its upcoming winter batch for 2020, doubling the number from the summer batch that had 14 startups.

According to a report in ET, Y Combinator has doubled the entry of Indian startups in across the sectors. The report also hints that the increase in the number of Indian startups might be due to YC’s exit from the Chinese Market.

With China out of the picture, India is the biggest market for Y Combinator. Chinese startups will still be allowed to apply for the accelerator programme, however, Y Combinator will not organise a separate programme for China. With these changes, Indian has seen a hike from 7% startups in a batch to 15%.

Launched in March 2005, Y Combinator is a US-based accelerator programme, which has accelerated the launch of over 2,000 startups by providing seed funding.  YC says its goal is to get startups through the tough initial phase, so they can build products or services to raise money on a larger scale.

Indian companies in its portfolio include payments gateway Razorpay, fintech firm ClearTax and social commerce player Meesho, which were part of its earlier 2015 and 2016 batches. The combined value of all the Y combinator’s portfolio is $155 Bn.

Y Combinator is basically a three-month long intensive accelerator programme followed by demo day that provides seed funding for startups. YC usually invests $120K for a 7% equity stake in the selected startups.

The selected startups are asked to move to Silicon Valley, where the accelerator takes care of living expenses at the YC campus. Besides, the financial aid and fine-tuning their pitch, YC also supports and mentors these startups in dealing with investors and acquirers. The firm has divided its programme into two batches — winter and summer.

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