Y Combinator works with a few hundred startups twice each year, showing them off in a final pitch-a-thon. On Wednesday, the first half of Y Combinator’s Summer 2023 cohort told a group of collected investors and media members what they are working on and how much progress they have made.
With a smaller group than in prior summer batches, this collection of upstart tech companies featured lots of AI-powered startups, some interesting fintech offerings and even a company that claims to be building an “asset-light,” Chipotle-like business in Africa. It was an interesting group of dozens and dozens of startups.
As always, the TechCrunch+ crew was tuned in with laptops at the ready. What follows are our favorites from the first day’s pitches, listed in no particular order. For each favorite, we’ve provided a short description of what the company is building and why it stood out to us.
We’ll be back on Thursday with favorites and more from Day 2.
Day 1 favorites
Constructable
Details: An information platform for construction managers.
Why it’s a fave: Construction technology is one of the most exciting sectors to follow, and I love seeing companies try to reduce friction and help streamline and simplify what is a risky and complicated job. Constructable helps workers find information easily, taking away at least a little bit of stress when it comes to getting a project done. A founder told me that general contractors were always looking for ways to automate their compliance management systems. A new way to automate communications within the sector seems like the natural step. Constructable uses AI to connect the data and documents, as well as answer questions for the construction managers so they don’t have to spend time going to page seven of Google. This is a fitting place for AI to find itself, and the company says it could help prevent serious mistakes.
Who picked it: Dominic-Madori Davis
Coba
Details: Enables users to earn in U.S. dollars and spend in Mexican pesos.
Why it’s a fave: Cross-border payments is an area that a lot of startups in Latin America are attempting to solve with technology. Coba in particular is helping Mexican engineering contractors who are working in the U.S. to earn in dollars and then easily spend it in their local currency. According to co-founder Joseph Saliba, Mexico doesn’t offer U.S. dollar accounts. Not only does this mean that the funds go through numerous banks, but also each bank collects a fee for moving the money to the next stage. I liked that Coba focuses on payroll because it’s an easy and consistent way to get deposits. Case in point: The company launched just two months ago and is growing deposits 50% each payroll cycle to reach $30,000 in annualized revenue.
Who picked it: Christine Hall
Chow Central
Details: The union of ghost-ish kitchens, third-party delivery systems and house brands in the African market.
Why it’s a fave: In the wake of the breakout Cava IPO, the fast-casual food market has snagged more of my attention. Essentially, Cava took the Chipotle model and applied it to a new food type. Chow Central likens itself to an “asset-light Chipotle,” which seems at least partially true. It has a few internal brands that it sells food under, using existing, if “under-utilized” commercial kitchens. So the lower asset footprint is certainly accurate. The Chipotle comparison is slightly harder to vet given that Chipotle (and Cava) prepare a set number of ingredients that customers mix as they want. Regardless, food is big, and by saving on asset costs, Chow Central could be on to something big.
Who picked it: Alex Wilhelm
Leafpress
Details: Automates ESG data collection for commercial real estate buildings.
Why it’s a fave: ESG and emission regulations are going to become an increasing headache for commercial real estate owners over the next few years as cities and states implement more disclosure requirements. Though I’m much more interested in tenant tools, I do like a tool that helps the organizations accurately track building emissions and ESG so that entities have the correct information they need to shape policy and make strides toward lower commercial emissions.
Who picked it: Becca Szkutak
Langfuse
Details: Observation and analytics for large language models.
Why it’s a fave: One thing that I have learned in the last few years is that any software product that helps folks better observe what is going on in their digital systems has the chance to be big. Langfuse, name-checking Amplitude and Datadog, wants to make that particular money from the burgeoning LLM space. Given how many companies are at least trying to use large language models today, it’s hard not to feel a wee bit excited about the opportunity that work may represent. The data observability category is growing, by the by. Think Monte Carlo for data-obs (data observability), for example.
Who picked it: Alex Wilhelm
Osium AI
Details: AI-based discovery tools for developing new materials
Why it’s a fave: What do solar panels, commercial airliners, lithium-ion batteries, SpaceX rockets and smartphones all have in common? They wouldn’t have been possible without novel materials. Materials scientists, chemists and engineers have been logging long hours devising new formulas, but the world of possibilities is nearly infinite. Osium AI has developed a software that augments those experts, allowing them to winnow the possibilities down to the most promising candidates. Osium AI already has a deal with “the largest international aircraft manufacturer” to design a new, lighter alloy that would help trim the aviation sector’s emissions. With less than 30 years to get to net-zero carbon emissions, AI tools like this could dramatically improve our chances of hitting that target.
Who picked it: Tim De Chant
Line.Build
Details: Software for contractors to identify incentives and financing to help decarbonize buildings.
Why it’s a fave: Buildings represent about a third of carbon pollution in the U.S., and decarbonizing them is a central focus of laws and incentives written into the Inflation Reduction Act. Heat pumps are the lowest hanging fruit, allowing homes and businesses to ditch their gas- or oil-burning furnaces or water heaters in one simple upgrade. But at the moment, they’re still a bit more expensive than straight replacements.
Line.Build helps contractors identify incentives — both from the IRA and elsewhere — and line up financing to make decarbonization projects more attainable. The company recently inked a deal with a major heat pump distributor to help scale up. Given the billions in incentives available over the next decade, Line.Build is entering a promising (and growing) market.
Who picked it: Tim De Chant
Glade and Slingshot
Details: Two startups that want to use AI to make games more interesting: Glade wants to make new playable maps; Slingshot wants to use AI to make nonplayer characters more engaging and interesting.
Why it’s a fave: I play a lot of games that are map dependent, and though titles like Farthest Frontier already have a map generation function, other games — especially those that have a multiplayer component — often lack the sort of map diversity that keeps gameplay fresh. Not every map is going to be Q3MD6! So, what Glade wants to do is super interesting to me, even if I wonder about balance and other competitive issues.
Slingshot is applying AI to games but in a different manner: It wants to use generative AI to make computer characters more interesting. There are two ways to go about making NPCs interesting, I reckon. The first is the Baldur’s Gate 3 approach: extensive scripting and voice acting, all fit to a larger story arc. The second is, well, more chaotic: allowing players to throw random stuff at NPCs that can then react. It wasn’t possible before generative AI, and now it is. If Slingshot winds up being good and affecting the bajillion-dollar gaming market, it could become huge.
Who picked it: Alex Wilhelm, who promises that he does not game during working hours.
Guac
Details: AI that can forecast demand for grocery retailers looking to reduce food waste and make more profit.
Why it’s a fave: In the words of my colleague Miranda Halpern, eliminating food waste is the next frontier in saving the planet. There are many angles to tackling this issue, but doing it in a way that will directly result in more revenue for grocery retailers seems like a good route to get them onboard. And while I am sure they already track demand in some form, AI forecasting is likely more accurate and granular; Guac says it accounts for additional factors such as nearby events and weather data, for instance.
Who picked it: Anna Heim
Vendora
Details: E-commerce enablement for grocery stores.
Why it’s a fave: Much of the enablement technology came about during the pandemic as people stayed home and shopped online. However, as I’ve written before, brick-and-mortar grocery stores don’t want to miss out on the fun of technology, especially if it closes the gap with online retailers.
Vendora gives stores their own online storefront on third-party marketplaces, like Uber or Instacart, so they can grow their online sales; the company boasts on its website that this can happen in as little as a week. One of the things that drew me to Vendora is that founder Sunny Singh grew up helping in his family’s grocery store. It’s also notable that he was the head of U.S. strategy and expansion for Uber Grocery/Cornershop, where he said he saw “hundreds of merchants struggle to keep up with the digital transformation happening in the industry.” Having launched just four months ago, the company has $106,000 of contracted annual recurring revenue and 60% in month over month growth.
Who picked it: Christine Hall
Cheq
Details: Access to India’s UPI payment infra for noncitizens.
Why it’s Anna’s fave: Writing about the ubiquity of payment scheme Pix in Brazil recently, I was wondering how my experience would be when I travel there again. So it’s nice to know that someone is fixing that problem — at least, in India. The country’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is similar to Brazil’s Pix and just as widespread, meaning that it’s used in many places where credit cards are not accepted. That’s a big relief, as it’s always a pain as a traveler or expat to not have access to a payment method that’s seen as mainstream. Cheq UPI promises to make cashless payments available to foreigners, too.
Why it’s Alex’s fave: One thing that I learned recently from a co-worker is that people in India use UPI for nearly everything, and that using a credit card just doesn’t come up much in their daily life. That blew my mind. Then along came Cheq, which wants to open up UPI to non-Indians. Killer! I want to visit India for a host of reasons, so knowing that there is a way for me to get UPI access is super cool. Of course, I wonder about regulatory matters and the like, but I dig the idea.
Who picked it: Anna Heim and Alex Wilhelm
CatX
Details: Turning insurance risk into a tradable asset class.
Why it’s a fave: Insurers already do risk transfers, so it makes sense for a startup to come in and make that process more efficient thanks to a marketplace. In fact, we’ve seen this in many other industries. But what I find even more interesting is CatX’s aspiration to turn insurance risk into an asset class. It raises all sorts of questions, but it also connects to the rise of alternative asset classes and of making these available to a broader range of investors.
Who picked it: Anna Heim