Fountain9 YC Application

Winter 2021Acquired

Fountain9 went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2021 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 2021
Industry: B2BRetail
Team size: 8
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2021

Founders

Niki KhokaleFounder
Rajas LonkarFounder

What Fountain9 does

Fountain9 is a predictive inventory planning solution. We help food brands and retailers reduce food wastage and improve product availability by predicting their future inventory needs. Food wastage is a global problem that has both financial and environmental costs. An estimated $1.3 Bn tonnes of food is wasted every year and 7 - 15% of that is because of mismanaged inventory. We accurately predict future inventory imbalances which lead to out of stock situations or wastage, and also recommends best ways of minimising their impact. Our state of the art demand sensing and pricing engine takes into account several factors like historical sales trends, seasonality, holidays, markdown events and pricing changes to predict future inventory requirements and optimize prices. Predicted inventory demand is also aligned with supply side data to identify ideal suppliers and replenishment quantities that minimize chances of stock outs or inventory wastage.

Fountain9's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Fountain9, Winter 2021 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Fountain9

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Helping food brands and retailers reduce food wastage

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

We built a predictive inventory planning tool that helps food brands and retailers avoid waste and stockouts. Our system forecasts future inventory needs by analyzing sales trends, seasonality, holidays, markdowns, and pricing changes, then aligns those demands with supply-side data to recommend optimal replenishment and pricing strategies.

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

We live and operate in San Francisco, CA, and plan to base the company here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco has the right mix of access to tech talent, retail partners, and logistics customers relevant to building advanced supply chain tools. Being here helps us engage directly with food brands and retailers in the US market.

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 Fountain9 YC application?

No. Y Combinator keeps submitted applications private. This is a reconstruction: the real YC form questions, answered from Fountain9's public data (launch notes, founder backgrounds, product description). It shows how a company like Fountain9 would present itself to YC, not the text they submitted.