Legal | Y Combinator

Welcome to the website (including all websites to which this Privacy Policy is posted, the “Site”) operated by Y Combinator Management, LLC and its Affiliates (collectively “Y Combinator,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Site provides, among other things, information about our people, organization and application process, tools for applicants to submit applications and go through the application process, a platform for applying to work at Y Combinator startups, a free online course on how to start a company, our blog, and profiles of founders and companies that have participated in the Y Combinator program (collectively, the “Services”).
This Privacy Policy explains what Personal Information we collect, how we use and disclose that data, and your choices concerning our data practices. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into and forms part of our Terms of Use.
For deletion requests, please contact us at privacy@ycombinator.com. See Section 4 for additional information regarding changes to accounts generally as well as deletion of Personal Information (defined below).
For California residents (defined below), please click here for additional disclosures, our Notice at Collection and Use of Personal Information, and a description of your rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (with any implementing regulations, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), and as may be amended from time to time, “CCPA”).
Before using the Services or submitting any Personal Information to Y Combinator, please review this Privacy Policy carefully and contact us if you have any questions. By using the Services, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy, please do not access the Site or otherwise use the Services.
We collect information that alone or in combination with other information in our possession could be used to identify you (“Personal Information”).
Event Information: If you attend one of our events, or if you are an investor and you sign up to attend Demo Day, you will be asked to provide Personal Information, including your name, the name and a description of your company or your fund, your contact information and other information that we will use to manage and administer your participation in our various events (“Event Information”).
Work at a Startup Information: If you sign up for our Work at a Startup program (“WaaS”), we will collect your name, email, LinkedIn profile, and other information relevant to the type of job you are seeking, such as your location, eligibility to work in the United States, and your work experience, education, and skills (“WaaS Information”).
Startup School Information: If you sign up for our Startup School program (“SUS”), we will collect your name, email, location (city and country), LinkedIn profile, gender (only if you choose to provide it), education, area of expertise, company information, and cofounder email addresses (“SUS Information”).
Application Information: When a company submits an application to Y Combinator, we will collect Personal Information relating to the founders of the applicant company, such as names, email addresses, telephone numbers, education, employment history, and the city/country in which they live. We will also collect information about the applicant company, such as the name, industry, and status of the company (together with Personal Information relating to founder(s) and any other information submitted in connection with the application process, “Application Information”).
Hacker News Information: If you create a Hacker News account (ID and profile), we do not collect any Personal Information unless you choose to provide your email address and/or information in the "about" field (“HN Information”). Your submissions to, and comments you make on, the Hacker News site are not Personal Information and are not "HN Information" as defined in this Privacy Policy.
Communication Information: When you subscribe to our newsletter or otherwise communicate with us, we may collect your name, contact information, and the contents of any messages you send (“Communication Information”).
Personal Information We Collect Through Our Social Media Pages. We have pages on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn (“Social Media Pages”). When you interact with our Social Media Pages, we will collect Personal Information that you elect to provide to us, such as your contact details (“Social Information”). In addition, the companies that host our Social Media Pages may provide us with aggregate information and analytics regarding the use of our Social Media Pages.
Personal Information We Receive Automatically From Your Use of the Site. When you visit, use, and interact with the Site, we may receive certain information about your visit, use, or interactions (“Technical Information”). For example, we may monitor the number of people that visit the Site, peak hours of visits, which page(s) are visited, the domains our visitors come from (e.g., google.com, yahoo.com, etc.), and which browsers people use to access the Services (e.g., Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, etc.), broad geographical information, and navigation pattern. In particular, Technical Information includes the following, which is created and automatically logged in our systems:
Cookies: We use cookies to operate and administer our Site, gather usage data on our Site, and improve your experience on it. A “cookie” is a piece of information sent to your browser by a website you visit. Cookies can be stored on your computer for different periods of time. Some cookies expire after a certain amount of time, or upon logging out (session cookies), others survive after your browser is closed until a defined expiration date set in the cookie (as determined by the third party placing it), and help recognize your computer when you open your browser and browse the Internet again (per