HippoBuild YC Application

Winter 2022Active

HippoBuild went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2022 batch as a Real Estate and Construction 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 2022
Industry: Real Estate and ConstructionConstruction
Team size: 5
Status: Active
Launched: 2022

Founders

Mads Schmidt PetersenFounder

What HippoBuild does

Hippo Build is building the Operating System for the Construction industry. We automate and optimize back office functions and the supply chain of Small and Medium Construction Companies. We save our customers hours everyday, and 1000’s of dollars every month on better sourced materials. And it takes only minutes for them to onboard We charge a small SaaS fee, + 1% transaction fee for the materials sourced. We are integrated with multiple marketplaces and providers, letting us automatically source better priced materials. This allows us to stay affordable for the SMB, whilst earning $20-100K per company.

HippoBuild's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

HippoBuild, Winter 2022 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

HippoBuild

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

The Operating System of the construction industry

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

We are building a SaaS platform that automates back office tasks and optimizes supply chain management for small and medium construction companies. Our software streamlines materials sourcing by integrating with multiple marketplaces to automatically find better prices, saving our customers both time and money. The platform enables quick onboarding, letting companies get started in minutes.

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

We live in Bogotá, Colombia and are remote. The company will remain based here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

We are rooted in Bogotá because that's where the market pain is most acute and where we have our team. Construction SMBs here lack modern tools, and being local helps us deeply understand their problems and iterate fast.

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 HippoBuild YC application?

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