These 8 German startups made it into the legendary Y Combinator – do you know them?
Being part of Y Combinator is like a seal of quality. The legendary US accelerator has spawned some of the most successful tech companies of our time – including Airbnb, Stripe, Dropbox, and Reddit.
For founders, anyone who is accepted into the YC program will be part of the global startup elite .
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The appeal?
In addition to early-stage funding of approximately €436,000 ($500,000), participants will gain access to a high-caliber network of investors, alumni, and tech insiders. Each year, only around 1 to 2 percent of the thousands of applicants are accepted. The program lasts four months, and there are four groups per year.
A look at the numbers shows why it's worth it: According to its own figures , Y Combinator has invested in over 5,000 companies since 2005, with a combined value of over $800 billion. The accelerator has also produced over 100 unicorns .
In 2024 and 2025, eight German startups made it into a YC batch; we introduce them to you.
Rally offers fleet managers across Europe a smart vehicle map that captures, categorizes, and analyzes all expenses in real time. The platform automates processes such as accounting and fraud detection for logistics companies.
- Year of foundation: 2025
- Founders: Nick Telecki, Thiago Peres
- Headquarters: Berlin, Germany
- Industry: Fintech / Logistics / B2B
- YC Batch: Winter 2025
Dexter offers no-code workflow automation for field operations teams – from tradespeople to delivery drivers to field service technicians. Users can use Dexter to create complex workflows without any programming knowledge. The AI reads documents, photos, PDFs, tickets, and emails and extracts relevant information.
- Year of foundation: 2024
- Founders: Bella Wu, Vincent Garrigues, Caterina Kiehntopf
- Headquarters: Berlin, Germany
- Industry: SaaS / Automation / AI
- YC Batch: Fall 2024
Telli develops AI-powered telephone agents that handle outbound calls and pre-qualify leads in industries such as energy and real estate. The platform combines intelligent call strategies, real-time handoffs to human sales teams, and cross-channel engagement via SMS or WhatsApp for measurable conversion increases.
- Year of foundation: 2024
- Founders: Finn zur Mühlen, Philipp Baumanns, Seb Hapte-Selassie
- Headquarters: Berlin, Germany
- Industry: Voice AI / Sales / B2B
- YC Batch: Fall 2024
- Last funding round : $3.6 million pre-seed (Cherry Ventures)
Autarc has developed an all-in-one platform for heat pump installers. Using AI and LiDAR technology, it automates building analysis, heat load calculation, quotation preparation, and funding application. This saves up to 20 hours of planning time per project. The target group includes tradespeople, municipal utilities, and energy consultants in Germany and Europe.
- Year of foundation: 2023
- Founders: Etienne-Noël Krause, Thies Hansen
- Headquarters: Berlin, Germany
- Industry: Energy Tech / Construction / B2B
- YC Batch: Summer 2024
- Last financing round: Pre-seed in the single-digit million range (PropTech1 Ventures, Better Ventures, C1 founder Christian Vollmann , Lieferando founder Kai Hansen, GridX founders David Balensiefen and Andreas Booke, Titus Albrecht, founder of RealXdata, Jannes Fischer of Zenhomes and Reachbird founder Philipp Martin)
Tabular has developed an AI copilot for accounting firms. The platform automates complex accounting processes—from invoice capture and VAT analysis to the export of completed accounting entries—using existing accounting software, reducing workload from hours to minutes.
- Year of foundation: 2024
- Founders: Tim Hermes, Markus Jungnickel, Leo von Kleist, Kilian Justus
- Headquarters: Berlin, Germany
- Industry: Fintech / Tax Tech / B2B
- YC Batch: Summer 2024
- Last funding round: $4.6 million seed (Y Combinator, Local Globe, Rerail)
Co Crafter has developed a B2B marketplace platform for the construction industry. The platform connects vetted clients and subcontractors from Germany and Europe, facilitates tenders, qualifies bids, and efficiently manages legal documents.
- Year of foundation: 2023
- Founders: Johannes Lutz, Philipp Rollwage, Annabell Vogelsang
- Headquarters: Munich, Germany
- Industry: Construction Tech / Marketplace / B2B
- YC Batch: Winter 2024
Pandas AI has developed software that makes it easy to analyze data using voice—without any programming knowledge. Instead of complex commands, users can simply ask questions like "How many customers did we have last month?" and immediately receive the answer, complete with a chart.
- Year of foundation: 2023
- Founder: Gabriele Venturi
- Headquarters: Munich, Germany
- Industry: AI / Data Analytics / Developer Tools
- YC Batch: Winter 2024
- Last financing round: 1 million euros pre-seed (Runa Capital)
Pretzel AI is a Berlin-based AI startup developing a modernized open-source alternative to Jupyter Notebooks. It integrates AI tools directly into data science workflows, enabling interactive analysis, SQL and Python execution, and visual dashboards.
- Year of foundation: 2024
- Founders: Prasoon Shukla, Ramon Garate
- Headquarters: Berlin, Germany
- Industry: Developer Tools / AI / B2B
- YC Batch: Winter 2024
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