Origin YC Application

Winter 2017Inactive

Origin went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2017 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 2017
Industry: B2BOffice Management
Team size: 2
Status: Inactive
Launched: 2016

Founders

Oliver TakachFounder

What Origin does

Origin built a kiosk for offices that lets employees buy pre-packed pods from a freezer, and make them into fresh juice smoothies silently in 30 seconds. It works similar to a Keurig coffee machine, but Origin thinks it can use its smoothie maker as a Trojan horse to sell more food and other items inside the 188,000 offices in the US. Right now it earns a 56% margin on the $2.99 pods, recoups the kiosk cost in 7 weeks, and now has $30,000 in monthly recurring revenue as it grows 50% weekly. Fellow juice maker startup Juicero has run into slow demand for its expensive machine and juice subscriptions. But Origin’s in-office commerce model and cheaper pods could have a different fate if the juice tastes right.

Origin's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Origin, Winter 2017 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Origin

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Keurig for healthy smoothies

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

We built a smoothie kiosk for offices that lets employees pick pre-packed frozen pods from a freezer. The machine silently blends a fresh smoothie in 30 seconds. It's like a Keurig but for juice smoothies, designed for office environments. The goal is to use the kiosk as a way to sell healthy food quickly and conveniently to office workers.

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

We live in San Francisco, CA and the company is based here as well.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco has the tech talent and office customers we need, and the startup ecosystem supports our growth. It makes sense to be based here to build and sell our product to offices.

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 Origin YC application?

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