# Hacker News API: Search YC companies > Searches the Y Combinator company directory by keyword, industry, batch, location, hiring and status, returning companies in directory order. Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Hacker News. - Page: https://fous.com/methods/ycombinator.com/search-companies - Method: `ycombinator.com/search_companies`, version 2 - Website: ycombinator.com - Returns: name, description, batch, industries, location, team size, status, website, YC page link - Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing) - Sign-in: none needed - Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1ยข with pay as you go); failed runs are free - Verified: Nov 2, 2026 ## Inputs | Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description | |---|---|---|---|---| | `batch` | string | no | | YC batch, such as Summer 2025 or W24. Default "". | | `query` | string | no | | Keywords to search, such as payroll. Default "". | | `status` | string | no | | Company status, such as active. One of "any", "active", "acquired", "public", "inactive". Default "any". | | `industry` | string | no | | Industry, such as Fintech or Healthcare. Default "". | | `location` | string | no | | City or country, such as San Francisco or India. Default "". | | `hiring_only` | boolean | no | | Only companies hiring, such as true. Default false. | | `max_results` | integer | no | `200` | Maximum companies to return, such as 25 (up to 200). Default 25. | ## Output From a run on Oct 23, 2026, shortened. Its input: ```json { "max_results": 200 } ``` Its output: ```json { "companies": [ { "name": "DoorDash", "batch": "Summer 2013", "status": "Public", "website": "http://doordash.com", "location": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "team_size": 8600, "industries": [ "Consumer", "Food and Beverage" ], "description": "Restaurant delivery.", "yc_page_link": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/doordash" }, { "name": "Airbnb", "batch": "Winter 2009", "status": "Public", "website": "http://airbnb.com", "location": "San Francisco, CA, USA", "team_size": 6132, "industries": [ "Consumer", "Travel, Leisure and Tourism" ], "description": "Book accommodations around the world.", "yc_page_link": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/airbnb" }, { "name": "Coinbase", "batch": "Summer 2012", "status": "Public", "website": "https://www.coinbase.com", "location": "Los Angeles, CA, USA; Remote", "team_size": 6112, "industries": [ "Fintech", "Banking and Exchange" ], "description": "Buy, sell, and manage cryptocurrencies.", "yc_page_link": "https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/coinbase" } ] } ``` ## Run it From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output: ```bash curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"method":"ycombinator.com/search_companies","input":{"max_results":200}}' ``` From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`. ## Ask your agent - Find Y Combinator startups in the Winter 2024 batch working on developer tools that are currently hiring - Which YC-backed fintech companies based in Lagos or elsewhere in Nigeria are still active? Give me their websites and team sizes. - list up to 50 acquired healthcare companies from the YC directory - Search the ycombinator.com company directory for anything related to payroll, Summer 2025 batch - Show me Y Combinator companies in Berlin doing climate or energy stuff, only ones that are public ## Input schema ```json { "type": "object", "properties": { "batch": { "type": "string", "default": "", "description": "YC batch, such as Summer 2025 or W24." }, "query": { "type": "string", "default": "", "description": "Keywords to search, such as payroll." }, "status": { "enum": [ "any", "active", "acquired", "public", "inactive" ], "type": "string", "default": "any", "description": "Company status, such as active." }, "industry": { "type": "string", "default": "", "description": "Industry, such as Fintech or Healthcare." }, "location": { "type": "string", "default": "", "description": "City or country, such as San Francisco or India." }, "hiring_only": { "type": "boolean", "default": false, "description": "Only companies hiring, such as true." }, "max_results": { "type": "integer", "default": 25, "maximum": 200, "minimum": 1, "description": "Maximum companies to return, such as 25 (up to 200)." } } } ``` ## Output schema ```json { "type": "object", "required": [ "companies" ], "properties": { "companies": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "object", "required": [ "name", "description", "batch", "industries", "location", "team_size", "status", "website", "yc_page_link" ], "properties": { "name": { "type": "string", "description": "Company name." }, "batch": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "YC batch." }, "status": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "Company status." }, "website": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "Company website." }, "location": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "Listed company location." }, "team_size": { "type": [ "integer", "null" ], "description": "Reported team size." }, "industries": { "type": "array", "items": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Industry categories." }, "description": { "type": [ "string", "null" ], "description": "One-line company description." }, "yc_page_link": { "type": "string", "description": "Company page on Y Combinator." } } }, "description": "Matching YC companies in directory order." } } } ``` ## See more - [Hacker News API: Get YC company profile](https://fous.com/methods/ycombinator.com/get-company.md): Looks up a Y Combinator company by name or YC company page link and returns its profile, founders, social links and open job count. - [Hacker News API: Search stories](https://fous.com/methods/news.ycombinator.com/search-stories.md): Searches Hacker News stories or comments by words, date range and sort order. Comments include their parent story's website link when one exists; text-only stories have no website link. - [Hacker News API: List Who is hiring posts](https://fous.com/methods/news.ycombinator.com/list-hiring-posts.md): Lists top-level job posts from a monthly Ask HN: Who is hiring? thread in thread order, with post text and the company, roles, location, work arrangement, salary and application contact inferred from each post. - [Hacker News API: List stories](https://fous.com/methods/news.ycombinator.com/list-front-page.md): Lists current Hacker News stories in rank order from the top, newest, best, Ask HN, Show HN or jobs list. - [Hacker News API: Get discussion](https://fous.com/methods/news.ycombinator.com/get-discussion.md): Gets a Hacker News story and its comments in the order shown on the site. The story can be given as a discussion link or as words from its title. Deleted and flagged comments are left out. - [Trustpilot API: Search companies](https://fous.com/methods/trustpilot.com/search-companies.md): Finds companies on Trustpilot by name or what they do, with TrustScore, review count, categories, location, logo and links. A preferred country moves companies listed in that country to the front. - [Companies House API: Search companies](https://fous.com/methods/find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/search-companies.md): Searches the UK Companies House register by company name and returns each company's status, type, incorporation date and registered office address, in result order. - [Yahoo API: Get company news](https://fous.com/methods/finance.yahoo.com/get-company-news.md): Looks up a company by name or ticker on Yahoo Finance and returns its latest news headlines, with article summaries when the article page provides one. - [All Hacker News methods](https://fous.com/methods/ycombinator.com.md)