Observant AI YC Application

Winter 2018Active

Observant AI went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2018 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 2018
Industry: B2BOperations
Team size: 5
Status: Active
Launched: 2017

Founders

Dave SchukinFounder/CEO
Daniel DeCovnickFounder/CTO

What Observant AI does

Observant AI is an iPhone-based driver monitoring system for commercial fleets. It uses machine learning + iPhone's depth sensors to detect unsafe driver behavior, prevent accidents, and save lives.

Observant AI's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Observant AI, Winter 2018 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Observant AI

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

iPhone-based driver monitoring for fleets

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

We build an iPhone app that uses the phone's depth sensors and machine learning to monitor commercial truck drivers in real time. It detects unsafe behaviors like distraction or drowsiness, alerts drivers proactively, and helps fleet operators reduce accidents and save lives.

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

We live in San Francisco and are mainly remote, but the company is based in San Francisco, CA after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is where the tech talent and commercial fleet customers are accessible. Remote work lets us stay flexible, but being physically near our customers and partners is important.

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 Observant AI YC application?

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