Y Combinator recently announced a new round of startup invitations, emphasizing its interest in 20 areas including artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency innovation. With the application window for the summer incubator now open, YC specifically noted that although specific entrepreneurial fields were listed, they encourage all entrepreneurial teams with innovative ideas to apply.
Table of Contents:
1. Artificial Intelligence
– Machine Learning Applied to Robotics Technology
– Machine Learning Simulating the Physical World
– Spatial Computing
– Explainable AI
– LLMs for Manual Back-Office Processes in Traditional Enterprises
– AI Constructing Enterprise Software
– Better Enterprise Integration Solutions
– Small Fine-Tuning Models as Alternatives to Large General Models
2. AI and Healthcare
– Bio-System-Based Models
– Ending Cancer
– Eliminating Intermediaries in Healthcare
– Management Service Organization Models in the Healthcare Field
3. Enterprise and Developer Tools
– Business Open Source Companies
– New Enterprise Resource Planning Software
– Developer Tools Inspired by Internal Tools
4. Cryptocurrency and Finance
– Stablecoin Finance
5. Defense and Space
– New Defense Technologies
– New Space Companies
6. Others
– Bringing Manufacturing Back to the United States
– Climate Technology
Y Combinator, a renowned startup accelerator, and the organization where OpenAI CEO Sam Altman previously served as president, recently released its Requests for Startups (RFS), a tradition spanning over a decade, collecting innovative ideas and fields that YC hopes entrepreneurs will engage in.
With the application window for the YC summer incubator now open until April 22nd, YC emphasized in its startup invitation announcement that entrepreneurial teams wishing to apply to YC are not limited to the categories they listed. This year’s startup invitation covers 20 areas, with a particular focus on the popular field of artificial intelligence (AI) and a mention of the cryptocurrency track. Below is a summary of each field:
– Machine Learning Applied to Robotics Technology: Emphasizes the development of robots that have not yet reached the level of GPT but are close, focusing on human-level perception and judgment.
– Machine Learning Simulating the Physical World: Utilizes machine learning to replace traditional physical and chemical simulations, improving efficiency and exploring new markets.
– Spatial Computing: With advancements in AR/VR technology, seeks to develop new software on these devices that go beyond entertainment purposes to address practical use cases.
– Explainable AI: Emphasizes the necessity of interpretability and comprehensibility of AI models in contexts where trust is crucial. YC expresses interest in funding the establishment of new explainable models or tools to interpret the output of existing models.
– LLMs for Manual Back-Office Processes in Traditional Enterprises: Automates ambiguous or subjectively assessed manual processes using large language models.
– AI Constructing Enterprise Software: Explores the use of AI to customize and continuously update enterprise software such as ERP, CRM, or HRIS to improve development efficiency and customer satisfaction.
– Better Enterprise Integration Solutions: “Glue code” such as ETL pipelines, system integration, and custom workflows, which are invisible yet ubiquitous in the enterprise software world, are tailored to customers and facilitate connections between software. YC believes that large language models have the potential to completely eliminate the need for glue code by generating custom code for uncommon, company-specific use cases.
– Small Fine-Tuning Models as Alternatives to Large General Models: Supports the development or fine-tuning of small models for specific purposes and the creation of tools to facilitate building these models.
– Bio-System-Based Models: Supports the establishment of data-driven foundational models in the biological and medical fields to accelerate scientific innovation and disease treatment.
– Ending Cancer: Aims to massively detect cancer early through innovative MRI hardware, AI algorithms, and business models to reduce cancer mortality.
– Eliminating Intermediaries in Healthcare: Improves healthcare efficiency and reduces intermediary costs through AI and innovative business models.
– Management Service Organization Models in the Healthcare Field: Invests in improving healthcare service delivery, allowing doctors to independently operate clinics in a managed service organization (MSO) model.
– Business Open Source Companies: Encourages the creation of open-source companies to increase developer adoption and accelerate maturity, becoming the standard choice for enterprises.
– New Enterprise Resource Planning Software: Hopes to see more user-friendly and flexible business operations software solutions.
– Developer Tools Inspired by Internal Tools: Encourages the creation of new startups based on tools developed internally within companies to address common pain points.
– Stablecoin Finance: Focuses on the development of B2B and consumer products based on stablecoins, as well as the development of tools and platforms that support stablecoin finance. While recognizing that the blockchain market is still evolving, YC emphasizes the potential of stablecoins as digital counterparts to traditional currencies. Partner Brad Flora stated, “Recent developments have accelerated this trend, including PayPal issuing its own stablecoin PYUSD and major banks ‘beginning to offer custody services and making noises about issuing their own stablecoins.'”
– New Defense Technologies: Calls for innovative defense technologies to enhance the defense capabilities of the United States, reflecting the demand for efficient private defense technology companies.
– New Space Companies: Encourages the creation of space companies as the cost of entering space decreases, exploring new business opportunities in space.
– Bringing Manufacturing Back to the United States: Encourages the revitalization of the American manufacturing industry using new technologies, emphasizing the role of automation and innovation in reducing labor costs.
– Climate Technology: Supports the development of commercial solutions to address climate change, covering areas such as energy, science, adaptation, green finance, and carbon accounting.