Grade YC Application

Winter 2026Active

Grade went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2026 batch as a Fintech 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 2026
Industry: Fintech
Team size: 2
Status: Active
Launched: 2026

Founders

Lotanna EzeikeCEO, Co-founder
James HeaneyFounder, CTO

What Grade does

Grade is the API for performance-based payroll. Think of us like Deel or Gusto, but our payouts are for work completed, not hours. Companies use Grade to pay AI agents and contractors based on results: tasks completed, targets hit, work delivered. We handle compliance, tax reporting, and global payouts.

Grade's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Grade, Winter 2026 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Grade

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

API for performance-based payroll

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

We are building an API that lets companies pay contractors and AI agents based on tasks completed and outcomes delivered, not hours worked. Grade handles compliance, tax reporting, and global payouts tied directly to results.

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

We live in San Francisco, CA, and after YC the company will also be based here.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is where we both live and where the fintech and startup ecosystem is strongest, which helps with hiring, partnerships, and being close to users.

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 Grade YC application?

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