Copia YC Application

Winter 2016Active

Copia went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2016 batch as a B2B company. Below: what the company does, who founded it, and its application to YC, reconstructed question by question in the real YC form.

YC batch: Winter 2016
Industry: B2BOffice Management
Team size: 20
Status: Active
Launched: 2015

Founders

Komal AhmadFounder/CEO

What Copia does

We waste 3X more food than there are hungry mouths to feed. It is not a lack of food that's the issue, but rather an ineffective distribution of that food. Hunger is not a scarcity problem; it's a logistics problem. For the first time ever, we can effectively donate prepared and highly perishable food to those who need it when we need it most. Copia is a for-profit company that has built technology allowing businesses (e.g., food management companies like Compass Group, corporate cafeterias, universities, hospitals, grocers, caterers, etc.) to easily request pickups of their surplus food, have it matched, and safely delivered to non-profits in need. With Copia, partnering businesses can seamlessly access significant tax savings, dramatically reduce food waste through data and analytics on surplus, and remove CO2 from the atmosphere, all while feeding their community. We have diverted over 7M pounds of edible food from landfills and provided businesses and nonprofits with over $23M in savings. We will feed over 7M people with incredible food that would have otherwise been wasted!

Copia's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Copia, Winter 2016 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Copia

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Software to connect surplus food to nonprofits

What is your company going to make? Please describe your product and what it does or will do.

We have built a platform that allows businesses with surplus prepared food to request pickups of that food. Our system matches the surplus food with nonprofits in need and coordinates safe deliveries. It also provides data and analytics to help reduce waste and claim tax benefits.

Where do you live now, and where would the company be based after YC?

We live mostly in San Francisco, CA, and operate remotely as well. The company is based in San Francisco.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco has the food industry connections and nonprofit networks we need. Remote work allows us to work flexibly with partners and nonprofits across regions.

21 more answers in the full application

Founders, Progress, Idea, Equity, Curious, Batch Preference are in the full version. Create a free account to open it in YC Insights, next to every other YC batch.

See full application

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the real Copia YC application?

No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from Copia's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like Copia would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.