What YC Wants Funded in 2026 (and Why Each Bet Just Became Possible)

Y Combinator's Summer 2026 Requests for Startups signals a shift away from funding AI copilots and tools that help people do their jobs, which the accelerator says most startups from 2023 to 2025 built. Instead, YC is now prioritizing startups that replace outsourced services, with the total addressable market being services spend, many times larger than all of software. The RFS outlines six bets, including replacing four outsourced services, building 'Company Brain' infrastructure, and advancing science in agriculture, discovery engines, and personalized medicine.

What YC Wants Funded in 2026 and Why Each Bet Just Became Possible YC Request for startups Fall 2026 💊 Before we start, today’s quick hits: LEARNING OF THE DAY: RETARDMAXXING, if Marc Andreessen is doing it, why shouldn’t you? Learn what it means here https://x.com/guilleflorvs/status/2079694760542114291?s=20 YC just told founders in one line that the last three years of AI startups are already obsolete: “that’s what most startups from 2023 to 2025 built, tools that help people do their jobs.” Their Summer 2026 Requests for Startups https://ycombinator.com/rfs is a map of where the next wave of money goes instead, and the total addressable market they’re pointing at services spend is many times larger than all of software. We read the full RFS and broke down all six bets into what to build, why the timing just flipped, and which incumbents are exposed, so you can act before the batch does. In this issue you’ll find: The 2023-2025 playbook is dead: why YC is done funding copilots and wants companies that sell the service The 4 outsourced services YC will fund you to replace and why outsourced means easiest to kill Company Brain : the missing infrastructure layer every AI startup is quietly blocked on Why the science bets agriculture, discovery engines, personalized medicine all became fundable in the same 12 months The stealable timing signal : how to read an RFS for when a market just opened If you are serious about building or investing in AI, you can subscribe here: Here’s a good place to start: ↳ Alex Karp’s Playbook for Which AI Companies Survive ↳ 19 great new details about Cursor’s rise Try premium free for 7 days. Or get 50% off this week only.