Y Combinator Companies To Launch On Wefunder: What This Means To Everyday Investors

Y Combinator announced more than 20 companies from its summer 2022 batch will be launching on Wefunder, a crowdfunding platform connecting startups with investors online.

Wefunder is a platform whereby smaller, unaccredited investors are able to invest in startup companies and for as little as $100, investors can buy into any one of those from the summer batch. 

What is Y Combinator? Launched in March 2005, Y Combinator is a startup accelerator involved with funding more than 3,500 startups with a combined valuation of nearly $1 trillion. Well-known companies Y Combinator has been involved with include Dropbox DBX, Airbnb Inc ABNB, Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, Reddit and more.

The company selects two or more batches of companies every year, each receiving $500,000 in seed money, as well as connections and advice. The Y Combinator motto is, “Make Something People Want.”

See Also: Y Combinator Startup Uses AI To Design New Drug-Induced States Of Consciousness

Y Combinator and the Summer 2022 Batch: The Y Combinator summer 2022 batch returned to in-person in the office for the first time since winter 2020. Although the program was still available online, an estimated 30% of the batch attended the San Francisco event in person. Add to this the 23% who live in the Bay Area already, and more than half of the attendees were there in-person for the program which lasted three months.  

More than 19,000 applications came from all over the world, with 240 eventually being funded. Of those 240, the U.S. had the highest number with 140 startups.

What This Means to Investors: The Y Combinator summer 2022 batch of companies being offered on Wefunder means everyday investors have the opportunity to become financially involved in startups. Because of crowdfunding platforms such as Wefunder, the small investor can get in on great startup companies such as these for as little as a $100 investment. 

Wefunder employed a provision in the 2012 JOBS Act that allowed the smaller investor to buy into what was before only available to larger, accredited investors. Due to the JOBS Act of 2012, now anyone is allowed to invest a minimum of $2,000 per year.

Photo: Yulia Grigoryeva via Shutterstock