Y Combinator - Top 50 Software Startups
This article contains a list of the top 50 YC software startups (sourced from the October 2019 YC Top Companies page). It also contains aggregated statistics for valuations and back-end programming languages used.
Values in this article are sourced, but I cannot guarantee their accuracy.
Find me on Twitter @charlieinthe6. View article comments on HackerNews.
Table of Contents:
- Top 50 Software Startups
- Aggregated Stats
1. Top 50 Software Startups:
| Company | Latest val ($MM) | Initial back-end language(s) | DataSci / LowLv |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe: Payment / economic infrastructure for internet |
36,000 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| Cruise: Building self-driving car tech |
19,000 source | C++, Python source, source | Y / N |
| Airbnb: Marketplace to rent someone’s room |
18,000 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| DoorDash: Food delivery |
16,000 source | Python source | N / N |
| Twitch: Gaming video platform / community |
15,000 source | C++, Ruby source (founded before Go) | N / Y |
| Instacart: Grocery pick-up / delivery |
13,700 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| Dropbox: File hosting / syncing |
8000 (market cap @ Aug 2020) source | Python source | N / Y |
| Coinbase: Cryptocurrency exchange |
8,000 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| Gusto: Employee payroll and benefits |
3,800 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| Rappi: On-demand delivery |
3,500 source | Go, Node, Python, Java source (may have used PHP - no source) | N / N |
| Flexport: Freight forwarding platform |
3,200 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| Reddit: Online network of communities |
3,000 source | Lisp source | N / N |
| GitLab: DevOps platform |
2,750 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| Brex: Corporate credit cards |
2,750 source | Elixir source | N / N |
| PargerDuty: SaaS incident response platform |
2,270 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| Checkr: Background checks |
2,200 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| Podium: Interaction management platform |
1,500 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| Segment: Customer data platform |
1,500 source | Go, JS source, source | N / N |
| Docker: Build / deliver software in containers |
1000 est. source, source | Go source, source | N / Y |
| Scale: Training / validation data for ML |
1,000 source | Python, JS source, source | Y / N |
| Amplitude: Product / customer analytics |
1,000 source | Python, Java source | Y / N |
| Zapier: Connect apps and automate workflows |
1000 est. (20x 2018 ARR) source | Python source | N / N |
| Faire: B2B wholesale marketplace |
1,000 source | Java source | N / N |
| PlanGrid: Construction software |
875 source | Python source | N / N |
| Mixpanel: User analytics |
865 source | Python source (founded before Go) | Y / N |
| Benchling: Biotech research |
850 source | Python source | Y / N |
| Meesho: Social commerce platform |
700 source | Java source | N / N |
| Optimizely: Digital experience optimization / testing |
600 source | Python source | Y / N |
| Algolia: Search service |
578 source | C++, Ruby source, source | N / Y |
| Goat: Sneaker marketplace |
550 source | Ruby source | N / N |
| StandardCognition: Autonomous checkout |
535 source | Python source | Y / N |
| People.ai: Intelligent CRM |
500 source | Python source, source | Y / N |
| Razorpay: Digital payments |
450 source | PHP source | N / N |
| EquipmentShare: Equipment rentals |
400 est. source | Python source | N / N |
| Weebly: Website builder |
365 source | PHP source, source | N / N |
| Webflow: Website builder |
350 source | JS source, source | N / N |
| Matterport: 3D technology platform |
325 source | C++ source, source | N / Y |
| InfluxData: InfluxDB creator |
300 est. source | Go source | N / Y |
| Embark: Self-driving trucks |
300 est. source | Python, C++ source | Y / Y |
| SendBird: Chat / calls as a service |
300 est. source | Python source | N / N |
| Rescale: Cloud simulation platform |
300 est. source | Java, Python source | Y / N |
| GoCardless: Direct debit payments |
300 est. source | Ruby source, source, source, source | N / N |
| Rigetti Computing: Quantum computing |
300 est. source | Python, Lisp, C source | Y / Y |
| MessageBird: Omnichannel customer communication |
300 source | Go, PHP, Python, Java source | N / N |
| Ironclad: Digital contracting platform |
300 est. source | JS, Java source | N / N |
| Sift: Digital safety and fraud detection |
300 est. source | Java, Ruby source | Y / N |
| Mattermost: Open source Slack alternative |
250 est. source | Go source | N / N |
| Xendit: Digital payments |
150 est. source | JS source, source | N / N |
| EasyPost: Logistics software |
150 est. source | Ruby source, source, source | N / N |
| Newfront: Insurance platform |
150 est. source | JS, Go source, source | N / N |
Notes:
- Ginkgo Bioworks, Boom Supersonic, Grin, Memebox, Helion Energy, North, RelativitySpace, and The Athletic were excluded from the below list; I didn't feel they were primarily software businesses. Feel free to disagree with my judgement.
- Values current as of August 15, 2020.
- If one language was the primary language used to build the initial product, one language is listed above. If it was not clear which language was primary, multiple languages are listed above.
- If I couldn't find which language was used to build the startup initially, I referenced the oldest job posting I could find.
- Valuations are approximate and predominantly sourced from recent articles online. Where I couldn't find an indication of value, ~$150M is assumed; startups listed above were all worth +$150M as of October 2019, as per the YC Top Companies page.
- "Y" and "N" values in the "DataSci / LowLv" column describe a startup's primary product (i.e. ML startups would have a "Y" for DataSci). It was included to provide additional colour on why initial back-end language(s) may have been used / selected. The values in this column are based entirely on my own judgement. Feel free to disagree with them or ignore them.
- Ruby and ruby on rails was a popular choice for YC startups around 2010 - 2012. Anecdotally, ~40% of YC startups used ruby during its peak popularity.
2. Aggregated Stats:
Startups with one (initial) primary back-end language:
| Language | Count | Total Valuation ($BN) |
|---|---|---|
| All | 35 (70%) | 132.1 (75%) |
| Ruby | 13 (26%) | 92.4 (52%) |
| Python | 11 (22%) | 29.9 (17%) |
| Lisp | 1 (2%) | 3.0 (2%) |
| Elixir | 1 (2%) | 2.8 (2%) |
| Java | 2 (4%) | 1.7 (1%) |
| Go | 3 (6%) | 1.6 (1%) |
| PHP | 2 (4%) | 0.8 (0%) |
| JS | 2 (4%) | 0.5 (0%) |
| C++ | 1 (2%) | 0.3 (0%) |
Startups with multiple (initial) primary back-end languages:
| Language | Count | Total Valuation ($BN) |
|---|---|---|
| All | 15 (30%) | 44.4 (25%) |
| C++ is one | 4 (8%) | 34.9 (20%) |
| Python is one | 8 (16%) | 25.7 (15%) |
| Ruby is one | 3 (6%) | 15.9 (9%) |
| JS is one | 5 (10%) | 6.5 (4%) |
| Java is one | 6 (12%) | 5.7 (3%) |
| Go is one | 4 (8%) | 5.5 (3%) |
| Lisp is one | 1 (2%) | 0.3 (0%) |
| C is one | 1 (2%) | 0.3 (0%) |
| PHP is one | 1 (2%) | 0.3 (0%) |
Note: "Startups with multiple (initial) primary back-end languages" table doesn't add to 100% because multiple languages were used for startups.
All startups:
| Language | Count | Total Valuation ($BN) |
|---|---|---|
| All | 50 (100%) | 176.5 (100%) |
| Ruby is one | 16 (32%) | 108.3 (61%) |
| Python is one | 19 (38%) | 55.6 (32%) |
| C++ is one | 5 (10%) | 35.2 (20%) |
| Java is one | 8 (16%) | 7.4 (4%) |
| Go is one | 7 (14%) | 7.0 (4%) |
| JS is one | 7 (14%) | 7.0 (4%) |
| Lisp is one | 2 (4%) | 3.3 (2%) |
| Elixir is one | 1 (2%) | 2.8 (2%) |
| PHP is one | 3 (6%) | 1.1 (1%) |
| C is one | 1 (2%) | 0.3 (0%) |
Note: "All startups" table doesn't add to 100% because multiple languages were used for some startups.