Y Combinator offers 7 startups ideas they want to fund (Spring 2026)
As usual, Y Combinator came up with segments that are worth investing:
1. Cursor for Product Managers
2. AI-Native Hedge Funds
3. AI-Native Agencies
4. Stablecoin Financial Services
5. AI for Government
6. Modern Metal Mills
7. AI Guidance for Physical Work
8. Large Spatial Models
9. Infra for Government Fraud Hunters
10. Make LLMs Easy to TrainWhich of the following do you think are the most interesting?
OR
Would you add to the list, maybe something that is more worth funding?
Also, are you going to apply? 👀
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Replies
UXDesigner.top
The #1 on this list really resonates with me "Cursor for Product Managers."
I'm actually building in this exact space with BenchCanvas. The idea: you paste a URL and it automatically crawls the site, captures every screen, detects the navigation flows, and generates an interactive visual map you can annotate and analyze with AI.
Think of it as what Cursor did for developers, but for designers and PMs doing UX benchmarking. Right now, most product teams are still screenshotting competitor apps and pasting them into Miro or Figma. It's manual, slow, and impossible to keep up to date.
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@david_martin_suarez Will you send an application to Ycombinator?
UXDesigner.top
@busmark_w_nika I’ve thought about it, but I’m probably not applying this batch. It’s early, I’m solo right now, and YC tends to prefer teams. I’d rather get some traction first and revisit it. Open to "co-founders" though 🤣
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@david_martin_suarez aaa, okay, you are valid in both points :D
UXDesigner.top
@busmark_w_nika Would you use a tool like BenchCanvas as a marketer? 🤓 I can see clear use cases for PMss and Product designers but I'm curious whether marketers do this kind of competitive analysis of research on other webs or products.
ProblemHunt
Hi Nika! As soon as I saw the first request on the list, I couldn’t pay attention to the rest anymore. It really feels like «Cursor for Product Managers» is something that’s very needed and could take off strongly. But let’s see what time shows 😊
We’ve submitted the ProblemHunt application for the second time.
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@gostroverhov uuu, i have my fingers crossed for you! :)
ProblemHunt
@busmark_w_nika 🤗
Scade.pro
@gostroverhov good luck, Boris. Nice product name :)
ProblemHunt
@nastassia_k thank you, Nastassia :)
Great breakdown! I’d probably vote for #1 (Cursor for PMs) as the most immediate need, but #7 feels like the biggest long-term shift for the workforce.
I’d add Personalized AI Tutors to the list—not just for coding, but for general skill acquisition. We need better ways to keep up with all this tech!
Good luck! 🚀
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@jakub_malek1 I think that 7 is the most revolutionary and imagine including robots. That would be pretty awesome (and scary) :D
@busmark_w_nika Haha, exactly! It’s a mix of excitement and 'Terminator' vibes. :D
Speaking of the AI Tutor—we actually applied to YC with it recently. We didn't make the cut this time (super competitive batch and slightly different market focus), but we’re not letting that stop us. We’re iterating on the product and definitely applying again! 🥊
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@jakub_malek1 Wishing you good luck. To be honest, I do not know their criteria, but many people post on X about how they were rejected (it is true that mostly they were solo founders). Hopefully, your product will be appealing to them! :)
@busmark_w_nika Yeah, their exact criteria aren't public, but from what I've heard, the acceptance rate can be as low as 1 in 100. So the odds are tough, but we're definitely not giving up! 💪
I’m putting all my bets on AI for Government! The dream of AI finally killing off soul-crushing bureaucracy and processes stuck in the 90s is just too good to ignore🥹
My only worry is that most governments are still have what to do with basic digitalization, let alone AI :D
But yes, it’s definitely the biggest area for a massive upgrade!
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@valeriia_kuna I think that this is more likely for China. Europe? eeeh :D Not so sure.
@valeriia_kuna It's a big bet, but goes against the psychology of how the government operates. Most governments are about control. AI will reduce that. Same reason why blockchain/cryptography based tech has always been blocked by governments.
Having said that, I'm with you - I hope for a day where we don't have to deal with soul-crushing bureaucracy and red-tape.
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@fitnessrefined People in bureaucracy will not be happy, that's for sure.
AI-native agencies stand out to me. It’s basically: pick a boring but valuable niche, map the workflow, then replace chunks of it with agents that run autonomously. The hard part isn’t the tech, it’s the scoping.
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@solomon_nwabuoku To be honest, I am not so technical, but for me, the execution would be tricky :D
@solomon_nwabuoku Running autonomously is hard. Even claude cowork dont support agent finding their next tasks to do on their own.
@solomon_nwabuoku I'd wager the hard part will be getting the 'Taste' bit right. That's what agencies are supposed to bring to the table. And even before this AI wave - most agencies had lost that.
vibecoder.date
Mills as in machining equipment?
I think stablecoin based financial services that focus on being tax compliant would let local businesses take crypto without the regulatory nightmare.
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@build_with_aj Now, I am pretty hesitant about crypto. I invested, and it all went down. 😂 It happens to me every time. LOL.
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@siarhei_ai No. 7 :)
interesting list but what's missing is #11. Tools to figure out what's actually worth building in the first place.
everyone's racing to build AI products but nobody's asking what problems people actually have. i might be crazy but i went the opposite direction. I built something with no AI at all.
frikt is an app where people post their daily frustrations in one sentence. others say same. patterns emerge. the idea is that before you build anything, you should know if enough people actually have that problem.
with AI making it so easy to build, the bottleneck isn't building anymore. it's knowing what to build. that's the gap i'm trying to fill.
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@karolisbuilds I can say that there is a page that captures real problems so people can build a product according to that – it is a @ProblemHunt
Stellify
I'm building an AI code editor (stellisoft.com). From what I've read it doesn't fit directly into those categories but I still intend to apply. Are you applying Nika?
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@stellify_software Me not :D I do not have that ambition (and no idea what to build) :D Do you have co-founders? I have heard that co-founders are also a factor that influences the decision to approve