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YC Request for Startups (Spring 2025)

The 14 startup areas Y Combinator sought to fund in Spring 2025.

From the Xiry library · Updated 11 October 2026

A curated list of the 14 specific startup categories highlighted in Y Combinator's Spring 2025 Request for Startups. It focuses heavily on AI infrastructure, autonomous agents, and systems-level tooling. Founders can use it as a strategic map to spot market opportunities and align new ventures with investor demand.

The list

YC request for startups (spring 2025):

  1. A secure AI app store – a new OS layer and app store on your computer or phone that protects user data while offering shared memory, vetted AI tools, developer infrastructure, and payments
  2. Data centers – software that will handle every aspect of planning and constructing data centers and warehouses with automated management
  3. Compliance and audit – AI-powered systems to automate regulatory compliance and continuous auditing across all companies
  4. DocuSign 2.0 – AI-enhanced e-signatures with auto-fill, voice assistance, custom templates
  5. Browser & computer automation – tools leveraging AI agents ability to browse web and use desktop applications, turning every website and app into an API
  6. AI personal staff for everyone – democratizing access to high-end human services through AI like accountants, lawyers, money managers, trainers, tutors, doctors
  7. Devtools for AI agents – tools enabling the creation, deployment, and enhancement of autonomous AI agents
  8. The future of software engineering – tools enabling generalist software devs to manage large teams of AI agents working together to build software
  9. AI commercial open source software (AICOSS) – enterprise support and services for open source AI tools
  10. AI coding agents for hardware-optimized code – systems generating hardware-optimized code to rival human-written CUDA
  11. B2A: software where the customers will all be agents – services and APIs specifically designed for AI agent customers rather than humans
  12. Vertical AI agents – domain-specific AI agents that automate work in B2B SaaS categories
  13. Startup founders with systems programming expertise – looking for technical founders with low-level systems experience
  14. Inference AI infrastructure in the world of test-time compute – solutions for scaling AI inference with better tooling and cost-effective GPU workload management

What it's for

  • Brainstorm startup ideas aligned with current venture capital demand
  • Validate the market thesis for early-stage software and AI products
  • Identify emerging infrastructure and vertical agent opportunities

Key points

  • Covers 14 targeted themes including secure AI app stores and data center construction software
  • Identifies agent-focused shifts like B2A (business-to-agent) architectures and AI developer tooling
  • Highlights infrastructure needs around test-time compute, inference scaling, and low-level CUDA optimization
  • Focuses on vertical agent workflows across compliance, auditing, and document management

Pricing

Free

Details

Type
List
Category
Business & Money
Topic
Idea Generation
Open source
No
Platforms
other
For
Startup founders, software engineers, and early-stage tech entrepreneurs.
Tags
startups, y combinator, ai, ideation, venture capital

Why it was saved

  • @benln, 31 January 2025: A snapshot of what YC wanted to fund in early 2025 — a map of where AI opportunity was seen, useful for picking ideas and validating directions.

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