Y Combinator targets AI crypto fundraising and agent trading infrastructure

Y Combinator is seeking startups that use blockchain technology to simplify capital raising for artificial intelligence companies, according to an October request for founders shared by visiting partner Nemil Dalal on October 28.

The accelerator’s October Crypto Request for Startups outlines its funding priorities for the next six months, focusing on four main areas: AI capital raising, stablecoin banking, trading infrastructure, and financial tools for software agents. Dalal stated that YC wanted to fund more crypto companies solving financial needs, marking a specific expansion of the firm’s 2025 onchain agenda.

AI Fundraising and Blockchain Precedents

The request explicitly connects the financing needs of AI businesses with the history of crypto fundraising. YC describes investment in AI as one of the largest capital-raising events in human history and points to Ethereum’s initial coin offering as a precedent for blockchain-based fundraising. The accelerator is asking founders to make AI capital raising easier, though it leaves the specific financing structure open for interpretation.

This focus builds on a joint request issued by YC and Coinbase on September 23, 2025, which sought projects in stablecoins, tokenization, trading, on-chain capital formation, and applications for agents. The October document gives AI capital raising an explicit place within that continuing financing agenda, signaling a sustained interest in how blockchain can facilitate large-scale institutional funding.

Stablecoins and Agent Infrastructure

Beyond fundraising, YC is looking for dollar stablecoin products that reach new customer or merchant groups, as well as stablecoins in additional currencies. The accelerator also seeks neobanks that serve people or businesses currently underserved by existing providers. Global contractors and international businesses are cited as examples of target groups for these banking services, while gaming is identified as a possible customer segment for dollar stablecoins.

Distribution is a critical component of the stablecoin request. Founders must identify a target group that benefits from the product and outline a strategy to reach it. For neobank founders, the requirement includes managing risk effectively while providing services to an underserved segment. The document also asks founders to choose assets that benefit from global, round-the-clock markets and integration with decentralized finance, citing a house represented by an NFT with blockchain-based capital funding mortgages as an illustrative possibility.

In the trading sector, YC seeks exchanges and interfaces built around new assets, derivatives, or geographies. The accelerator expects new assets, including startup equity and small securities, to be issued, with trading, lending, and derivatives services developing around them. This creates a link between the fundraising request and the trading categories, as YC sees opportunities in both creating assets and building the financial services that make them usable.

YC also wants founders to build trading applications and infrastructure for software agents. The document expects these agents to become active financial participants and prolific traders, including when directed by humans. The API category focuses on financial connections designed for agents, arguing that today’s interfaces largely serve human developers. YC wants founders to connect the services needed to complete agent tasks, including fiat-to-crypto routes, recognizing that blockchain access alone may not cover all requirements.

YC argues that institutional financial needs drove crypto uptake over the past year, citing oil hedging and faster cross-border movement of enterprise money as key drivers. The Winter 2027 batch runs from January through March in San Francisco. YC will consider applications submitted after the November 2 deadline at 8pm Pacific, although it cannot promise when those applicants will receive a response.