HappiLabs YC Application

Summer 2018Acquired

HappiLabs went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2018 batch as a Healthcare 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: Summer 2018
Industry: HealthcareHealthcare Services
Team size: 14
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2018

Founders

Tom RuginisFounder

What HappiLabs does

We're a SaaS company with emphasis on Service, and we have a mission: to improve the happiness of scientists and the quality of their research. HappiLabs provides a service called the Virtual Lab Manager. We offer PhD level, former scientists to help with safety and regulatory, product research, lab shopping, negotiating, purchasing, inventory, and bookkeeping. Our software tools, such as the ETA Dashboard and the HappiApp, make it easy to request purchases, manage inventory, and check-in packages upon delivery. HappiLabs also has one of the most extensive databases of product prices. These tools, and experienced humans, make us the smartest lab managers in the world. Another way to think of us is an outsourced purchasing department and/or a personal assistant for your scientists. Based in Chicago, and some presence in San Francisco. If you're a newly funded PI, a startup, small biotech, or work with purchasing as a big pharma/biotech, you can use our help.

HappiLabs's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

HappiLabs, Summer 2018 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

HappiLabs

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Virtual Lab Managers for scientists

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

We provide a Virtual Lab Manager service combining PhD-level former scientists with software tools. Our service handles lab purchasing, safety, regulatory compliance, inventory, and bookkeeping for scientists and research labs. Our ETA Dashboard and HappiApp let users easily request orders, track inventory, and manage deliveries. We also offer one of the largest databases of lab product prices to enable smarter buying.

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

We live in San Francisco, CA and Chicago, IL, and the company is based in both cities.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Our core team is split between Chicago and San Francisco. Chicago gives us proximity to many biotech startups and university research labs, while San Francisco connects us to the broader tech and startup ecosystem. This dual presence helps us serve customers and build the product effectively.

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 HappiLabs YC application?

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