HACKER Q&A
πŸ“£ max_

Alternatives to YC?


Hi guys.

Are there any other YC type entities that invest in startups outside the USA?

I am based in East Africa (though my product is a consumer SaaS targeting the international market)

I applied to YC for S24 but didn't even get an interview. I feel like its just too competitive (about 30k applications)

I will apply again for W25 though. While I improve my project.

Meanwhile I was wondering if there are any other accelerators that invest in early stage consumer SaaS products (targeting an international market but with a team based in East Africa)

My needs of money are for infrastructure costs to get the ball rolling & build serious traction.

What do you recommend? Any opportunities you think I should apply for?

My email is hi@asindu.xyz incase you want to send me something


  πŸ‘€ muzani Accepted Answer βœ“
500 Startups is quite global and well considered the second best. It's not a perfect comparison, though. 500 shines in marketing and hustling, while YC likes to focus more on product. Plenty of startups are better fits for one or the other and plenty do both.

"I applied to YC for S24 but didn't even get an interview. I feel like its just too competitive (about 30k applications)"

> If you didn't get a "you were in the top 10%" email, it might well be too competitive.


πŸ‘€ menondipika
You can try Techstars or Antler - they're both similar to YC. I think 500 Startups has a great name and is on-par with YC, but they're equally competitive.

πŸ‘€ 8BitArmour
Nio accelerator Intel Ignite(but only for deep tech startups)

πŸ‘€ fracternal
From my research YC is one of the best ones but I’ve heard of techstars which is established around the world I think. There are others like antler and ewor but I don’t know too much about them. Good luck

πŸ‘€ 35mm
Tinyseed