Y Combinator: The startup accelerator has an impressive portfolio

3/3/22 7:00PM

Make something people want

Investing in startups is a high-risk business. First you have to get comfortable with the idea that the vast majority of new companies will go broke — then you have to do your best to bet on the ones that don't, which isn't easy.

But Y Combinator makes it look easy.

With a motto of "make something people want" and an unwavering focus on the founders themselves, San Francisco based Y Combinator has now backed more than 3,500 startups since it started in 2005 — and this week it updated its list of "top companies".

Playing the numbers game

Having written more than 3,500 checks, usually for $125k in exchange for 7% of the company (although this changed recently), Y Combinator has spread the risk of early-stage investing, hoping for a few home-runs that can cover the rest of their investments.

We tracked down the data on the 100 most valuable of those companies YC has invested in, estimating that the top 100 alone are worth something north of $600 billion. A lot of that comes from big name successes like Stripe, Airbnb, Reddit and DoorDash - all of which make the top 10 YC-backed companies.

Millie Giles2h

Instacart falls as Amazon announces ultrafast delivery testing in major US cities

Shares of Instacart were down as much as 4% in early trading on Tuesday after e-commerce giant Amazon outlined plans to test ultrafast delivery offerings in parts of Seattle, Washington, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On Monday, Amazon released a statement announcing that deliveries of “household essentials and fresh grocery items” in approximately 30 minutes or less are now available in certain areas.

The ultrafast offerings come as part of Amazon Now, the company’s same-day grocery delivery service, which has been looking to expand since moving into selling perishable goods like eggs, milk, and fresh produce earlier this year.

While Instacart had a stronghold on rapid grocery delivery for years — following a solid debut on the Nasdaq back in 2023, the stock has risen gradually on some better-than-expected results — analysts have been wary that its retail offerings won’t be able to match Amazon’s incredible reach.

Amazon’s ultrafast service will build on its Prime model, with the statement detailing that Prime members will get discounted delivery fees, starting at $3.99 per order — compared with $13.99 for non-Prime customers.

Far from the first, and certainly not the last, it seems that Instacart might have just gotten “Amazoned.”