# YC Request for Startups (Spring 2025)

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

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 is 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](https://xiry.app/topics/business-money.md)
- 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](https://x.com/benln/status/1885338983279792426): 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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Updated 11 October 2026. Page: https://xiry.app/resources/yc-request-for-startups-spring-2025

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