# Y Combinator Founders Scraper (`dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper`) Actor

Scrape Y Combinator founders by industry, batch, or region. Extracts names, bios, social links, and full company details (size, status, website, socials) into clean structured data for outreach, research, or AI pipelines.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Marco Rodrigues](https://apify.com/dadhalfdev) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Social media
- **Stats:** 12 total users, 3 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## 🚀 Y Combinator Founders Scraper

Want to track the founders behind YC startups? This scraper makes it easy!

Apply filters on the [YC Founders directory](https://www.ycombinator.com/founders) (industry, batch, region, gender, etc.), paste the URL, and collect up to **200** founder profiles — bios, social links, and company details — into CSV or JSON.

![Y Combinator Founders Directory](https://i.ibb.co/S4VN8SPr/Screenshot-From-2026-04-15-22-17-09.png)

### 💡 Perfect for...

- **Investors & VCs:** Build lists of founders in specific industries or batches
- **B2B sales & recruiting:** Find LinkedIn and X handles for outreach
- **Market researchers:** Analyze team size, location, and industry tags across YC
- **RAG & AI tools:** Index founder bios and company descriptions for Q\&A

### ✨ Why you'll love this scraper

- 🎯 **Your filters, your URL:** Filter on the YC site, paste the Input URL — no rigid dropdowns to maintain
- 👤 **Founder + company:** Personal bio and socials, plus company tagline, size, status, and links
- 🔗 **Social links:** Founder LinkedIn / X, plus company website, LinkedIn, X, GitHub, Crunchbase when available
- 📦 **Export-ready:** Clean structured rows for CRM or spreadsheets

### 📦 What's inside the data?

For every founder you get:

- **Founder:** `id`, `founder_name`, `current_title`, `description`, `avatar_thumb`, `linkedin_url`, `x_url`
- **YC metadata:** `yc_titles`, `batches`, `yc_industries`, `yc_parent_industries`, `yc_subindustries`, `current_region`, `top_company`
- **Company:** `current_company`, `company_tagline`, `company_description`, `company_founded`, `company_size`, `company_status`, `company_location`
- **Company links:** `ycombinator_company_url`, `company_website`, `company_linkedin_url`, `company_x_url`, `company_facebook_url`, `company_github_url`, `company_crunchbase_url`

### 🚀 Quick start

1. Go to [ycombinator.com/founders](https://www.ycombinator.com/founders) and apply any filters you want
2. Copy the URL from your browser
3. Paste it into **Input URL**
4. Set **Number of founders** (up to 200)
5. Click **Start** and export CSV / Excel / JSON

***

#### Input & output examples

**Input:**

```json
{
  "input_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/founders?yc_parent_industries=Education",
  "num_founders": 100
}
```

**Output (truncated):**

```json
{
  "id": "967",
  "founder_name": "Nicholas Bergson-Shilcock",
  "current_title": "Founder",
  "description": "Cofounder & CEO of the Recurse Center.",
  "linkedin_url": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasbs",
  "current_company": "Recurse Center",
  "batches": ["S10"],
  "yc_parent_industries": ["Education"],
  "company_website": "https://www.recurse.com"
}
```

### Input reference

| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|-----------|------|----------|-------------|
| `input_url` | string | No | Founders directory URL with your filters applied. Default opens Fintech. |
| `num_founders` | integer | No | How many founders to collect (`10`–`200`, default `100`). |

# Actor input Schema

## `input_url` (type: `string`):

Paste a Y Combinator Founders directory URL after applying filters on the site (industry, batch, region, etc.).

## `num_founders` (type: `integer`):

How many founder profiles to collect (10–200).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "input_url": "https://www.ycombinator.com/founders?yc_parent_industries=Fintech",
  "num_founders": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Table view using the dataset 'overview' view (founder fields first, then company).

## `results` (type: `string`):

All items from the default dataset without view transformation.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=dadhalfdev/y-combinator-founders-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/Nvvjsnjkubc3Fqqef/builds/IBxl6FssIraTekKwn/openapi.json