$65,000 YC Agents Hackathon
The First Overnight YC Agents Hackathon
Friday, Aug. 22nd – Saturday, Aug. 23rd | YC Office | Application Required
Applications are now closed.
We're sorry if you were not able to join us at the YC Agents Hackathon. Please subscribe to the Dedalus Events Calendar on Luma to stay updated on future hackathons we host, and visit https://dedaluslabs.ai to try our new Agents SDK.
Are you a YC-backed founder looking to network with attendees and guests from OpenAI, Anthropic, etc? Attend the post-hackathon mixer: https://lu.ma/9i2pvgcb
Attend the official hackathon after-party, sponsored by Pally (YC S25): https://partiful.com/e/LkQGwdR0WuAx0liy8efu
A small, high-signal day for people who ship.
Join us at the YC office for an invite-only hackathon focused on AI Agents and MCP. We're bringing together top builders, current-batch YC founders, and guests from OpenAI, Anthropic, Vercel, Convex, Vapi, and Y Combinator for the first-ever overnight hackathon in the YC office ending in live demos and shipped product.
Capacity is limited; applications are required.
Who Should Apply
Your projects make it past localhost. You've shipped agents, tooling, or infra, or you can show relevant repos and experience.
What to Expect
Doors open at 6pm on Friday. IDs will be checked by security at the door.
Kickoff talks start at 6:30 with team formation taking place immediately after over dinner. Focused building all night fueled by a ridiculous amount of snacks, coffee, iced lattes, and four different types of energy drinks.
Speakers and panels (to be announced) throughout the day Saturday, with building ending at 6pm—exactly 24 hours.
An evening of demos and networking open to all recent YC founders and invited guests from sponsoring companies.
Winners to be announced at 8:30pm, Saturday.
You will not be hungry. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner from a local award-winning chef. Caffeine and snacks provided throughout the day. Vegan, vegetarian, and health-conscious options available.
Prizes
$80,000 total prize pool. See the hackathon Discord for further details.
Credits & Support
Generous credits from OpenAI
$100 Anthropic API credits
$250 Browser Use API credits
$200 Vercel credits
3 free months of Convex Pro
$20 Vapi API credits
Free access to Nia for the duration of the hackathon
Free access to AgentMail for the duration of the hackathon
Mentorship and tech support provided by the hosting YC companies.
Tracks
Tools for Agents: Infra and tools (MCP) that enable agents to act
Developer & Code Agents: Agents that write, read, and reason about code
Consumer Agents: Lifestyle, shopping, finance, and productivity tools
Web Agents: Browsing, scraping, and task automation online
Agents for Enterprise: Automation of everyday business needs; GTM, legal, hiring, admin, business analytics, marketing, creative, etc
For track hosts and prizes, please see the hackathon Discord.
Rules & Submission Criteria
Submission Criteria can be found in the hackathon Discord.
Speakers
Jared Friedman: Jared Friedman is Managing Director, Software and Group Partner at YC. He was co-founder of Scribd, which was funded by Y Combinator in 2006 and grew to be one of the top 100 sites on the web. Jared previously worked at a pioneering AI company and studied computer science at Harvard.
James Cowling: James is CTO and Co-founder at Convex, where he drives technical decision-making and advocates for simple, elegant solutions to complex problems. Previously, he was a Senior Principal Engineer at Dropbox and holds a PhD from MIT in distributed transaction processing and consensus protocols. James enjoys building things, fixing motorcycles, and playing in a cover band.
Wayne Sutton: Wayne Sutton is Head of Community and Events at Convex, where he leads developer programs, meetups, and the Convex Discord community. He has organized 100+ events for over 50,000 attendees with startups and Fortune 500 companies. He enjoys adventure motorcycling, fitness, and connecting with founders.
Dan Goosewin: Dan Goosewin is a software engineer and entrepreneur with a decade of experience in web development and cloud platforms, currently leading developer relations at Vapi. Originally from Ufa, Russia, he is passionate about software, video games, finance, entrepreneurship, and ducks.
Judges
Pranjali Awasthi: Pranjali Awasthi is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Slashy (YC S25). Previously, she founded another technology company, Delv AI, which also recieved venture capital funding from prominent investors, such as HF0. We're excited to select Pranjali as a judge for her ample success with venture and technology entrepreneurship.
Lucas Szwarcberg: Lucas Szwarcberg is a Product Engineer at Y Combinator, where he develops YC’s proprietary admissions software. Previously, he was a Software Engineer at Stripe and studied Math/Computer Science at Harvard. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his extraordinary experience at the world’s foremost technology institutions.
Dhruv Roongta: Dhruv Roongta is the Co-Founder and Chief Techology Officer of Slashy (YC S25). Before Slashy, he developed software as the first hire at Greptile (YC W24), a distinguished technology company, and previously also founded 3 other technology organizations. He is selected as a judge for his extensive experience across many domains of technology entrepreneurship.
Haakam Aujla: Haakam Aujla is the Founder of AgentMail (YC S25). Previously, he worked as a quantitative researcher and intern at Optiver, and before that held software and quantitative trading roles at Amazon and Makara, among others. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his technology entrepreneurship excellence in AgentMail and deep technical background across technology infrastructure.
Michael Kim: Michael Kim is the Founder of AgentMail (YC S25). Previously, he worked at NVIDIA on autonomous vehicles. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his technical experience at a leading AI company and his technology entrepreneurial expertise building AgentMail.
Adi Singh: Adi Singh is the Founder of AgentMail (YC S25). Previously, he worked in venture capital at Accel and StepStone Group, supporting high-growth technology startups, and also held operating roles in e-commerce and education technology. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his technology entrepreneurship and experience building AI-driven technology infrastructure.
Josh Singh: Josh Singh is a Software Engineer at Vercel, where he contributes to the cutting-edge developer platform powering modern web applications. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his technical technology expertise at one of the world’s foremost developer technology infrastructure companies and his contributions to advancing web technology.
Aryan Mahajan: Aryan Mahajan is the Founding Engineer at Dedalus Labs (YC S25). Previously, he has focused on scaling B2B businesses using AI and automation, helping clients significantly reduce costs and enhance operational efficiency -a strong testament to his capabilities in technology-driven growth and innovation. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his deep expertise in AI-powered systems and his role in building high-impact, technology-forward platforms at Dedalus Labs.
Arlan Rakhmetzhanov: Arlan Rakhmetzhanov is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nozomio (YC S25). Previously, he launched his first startup at age 15 and served as a research assistant at Stanford after cold‑emailing his way in; he also interned as a software engineer at KAZ Minerals. At just 18 years old, he raised $1 million in a pre‑seed round in London in just five days, backing a developer platform that builds "engineers for the AI era" via its product Nia. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his extraordinary success in technology entrepreneurship - founding, funding, and scaling an AI-centric startup at a remarkably young age.
John Yeo: John Yeo is the Co-Founder of Autumn (YC S25), the “Stripe for AI startups” that simplifies complex online usage-based and subscription billing. Previously, he studied Computer Engineering at Imperial College London and spent six years building developer tools and low-code backend frameworks before pivoting into AI infrastructure. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his exceptional technology entrepreneurship and his leadership in creating developer-first, scalable technology infrastructure.
Luke Shiels: Luke Shiels is the Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Interfere (YC S25). Previously, he worked at Delphi, Tabs, and Structure, and was trained as a commercial airline pilot in Europe. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his technology entrepreneurial leadership, innovative vision in building autonomous software infrastructure, and deep interdisciplinary experience across aviation and technology.
Catherine Jue: Catherine Jue is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Kernel (YC S25). Previously, she co-founded Sway Finance (YC S16), an AI-powered bookkeeping startup, and most recently led Cash App’s technology team of forward-deployed engineers and its documentation platform. She is invited as a judge in recognition of her deep expertise in technology entrepreneurship, her track record founding and scaling AI-centric ventures, and her strategic leadership in developer-facing infrastructure.
Magnus Müller: Magnus Müller is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Browser Use (YC W25). Previously, he studied Data Science at ETH Zurich and published research with Cambridge CARES. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his success founding Browser Use, a leading technology company building open-source AI browser automation.
Arnav Jha: Arnav Jha is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Loandock. Previously, he studied Computer Science at Georgia Tech and built the first AI-powered mortgage loan officer startup while still a student. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his technology entrepreneurship and leadership at the helm of Loandock.
Haz Hubble: Haz Hubble is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pally (YC S25). Previously, he became the world's youngest Chartered Management Accountant at age 20 and served as CFO of a 200-person company at 22. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his expertise in technology entrepreneurship - founding Pally, an AI-powered relationship management platform that merges your social networks and strengthens human connections.
Sung Cho: Sung Cho is the Co-Founder of Hyprnote (YC S25). Previously, he studied at Wharton (as indicated by his involvement with Wharton Korea Undergraduate Business Society). He is invited as a judge in recognition of his entrepreneurial leadership in building secure, enterprise-ready AI tools.
Ayush Rodrigues: Ayush Rodrigues is the Co-Founder of Autumn (YC S25), a pioneering technology infrastructure company often described as the “Stripe for AI startups”. Previously, he drove product innovation at Checkout.com, one of Europe’s most valuable fintech companies. He is invited as a judge in recognition of his outstanding achievements in technology entrepreneurship and his leadership in building critical infrastructure for the next generation of AI companies.
Hosts (YC '25)
Dedalus: MCP gateway-as-a-service for agentic AI workflows 🪽
Kernel: Crazy Fast Browser Infrastructure for AI web agents
Interfere: Write code that fixes itself in production
Nozomio: Best-in-class context augmentation for codegen tools
Browser Use: We enable AI to control your browser
AgentMail: API to give agents their own inboxes
Autumn: Making Stripe easy for AI
Selection & Format
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, accepted participants have 48 hours to confirm. Teams of up to 4 are welcome; there will be time for solo builders to form teams on site. Demoing in-person is mandatory for all accepted participants.
Logistics
Bring your laptop and charger. Final venue details will be shared with accepted attendees.
Sponsors
Anthropic, OpenAI, Vercel, Convex, Vapi, & Y Combinator