Y Combinator doubles the number of batches to four per year

Y Combinator just announced that it will double the number of batches per year, from two to four.

This matters because, as a founder, you now have twice as many chances per year to apply to YC and get funded. Or, as someone on X humorously pointed out, "This means 4 rejections instead of 2 per year. 😅 🤷🏻‍♂️"

This also means you can apply to YC whenever it's convenient, rather than having to wait 6 months for the next batch to open up.

Some quick takeaways:

• They'll be adding spring and fall batches in addition to the traditional winter and summer batches.

• Batch sizes will be halved from what they were, down from around 256 to 128 companies.

• Each batch will get its own Demo Day, so the overall formula for YC doesn't seem to be changing.

So when the summer cohort ends with their Demo Day on September 25-26 this year, the fall program will start just a few days later on September 29th.

Personally, I'm skeptical that they'll stick with these smaller batch sizes for too long. It's just too tempting to grow. YC's partners see themselves as running a startup with a product, and as Paul Graham once famously wrote, startups = growth.

So if you want to do YC with a smaller number of companies alongside you, these next few batches seem like an ideal window.

The deadline to apply for the fall has passed, but they're still accepting late applications.