The Top 9 Startups From Y Combinator Summer 2015 Demo Day 1

Smart mattress covers, RNA diagnostics, and photosynthetic grow lights were among the big ideas that shone brightest on stage at Demo Day 1 for Y Combinator’s Summer 2015 batch. Fifty startups presented on the record, including a massive influx of hardware companies and biotech firms. You can read about all of them here. And learn about Y Combinator getting hardcore about hardware here.

Click through to see TechCrunch’s picks for the top 9 startups from the day.

To select our picks, we asked for the opinion of some of Silicon Valley’s top venture capitalists, as well as founders in this YC class. Then, fellow TechCrunchers Matthew Lynley, Kim-Mai Cutler, and I combined these suggestions with our own favorites and debated the merits of the candidates. Continue to see our selections, in no particular order.