Manara YC Application

Winter 2021Active

Manara 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: B2BRecruiting and Talent
Team size: 10
Status: Active
Launched: 2021

Founders

Iliana MontaukFounder
Laila AbudahiFounder

What Manara does

Manara untaps the human potential in the Arab world and helps global tech companies access high-quality, diverse talent. We identify the top software engineers in the region and offer them a last-mile solution to land their dream jobs: interview preparation and referrals.

Manara's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

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

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Manara

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Connecting top Middle East talent to global tech jobs

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

We built a platform that identifies top software engineers from the Middle East and helps them prepare for interviews and gain referrals at global tech companies. Our product focuses on the last mile - interview prep and job placement support - to unblock high-potential candidates overlooked by traditional recruiting channels.

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

We live in Berkeley, CA and are remote. The company will remain based in Berkeley after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Berkeley is our chosen base because it keeps us close to U.S. tech companies and the startup ecosystem, while allowing us to operate fully remotely to connect talent from the Middle East.

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 Manara YC application?

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