Pax YC Application

Summer 2024Active

Pax went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2024 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: Summer 2024
Industry: B2BSupply Chain and Logistics
Team size: 10
Status: Active
Launched: 2024

Founders

Penny ChenFounder & CEO
Chris LeFounder

What Pax does

Pax is the AI-native broker that automates and maximizes tariff refunds through duty drawback. We've helped enterprises recover millions in duties and manage their entire trade compliance operation from one platform. Each year, 80% of eligible refunds - equivalent to $15B - go unclaimed. Pax is the first AI-first broker that makes this process transparent and streamline while maximizing all duty saving opportunities. We are two technical founders: Penny got her PhD from MIT and, and was a former research scientist at Amazon & Flexport, where I encountered the problem firsthand. Chris is a second-time founder and former software engineer at Amazon, Brex, and TikTok.

Pax's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Pax, Summer 2024 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Pax

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

AI Broker for Tariff Refunds

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

We built an AI-native platform that automates finding and claiming tariff refunds through duty drawback. Our product helps enterprises recover millions in duties and manage trade compliance in one place. It automates the complex and manual process of identifying refund opportunities and handling documentation.

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

We live in San Francisco and plan to keep the company based here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco has the technical talent and logistics ecosystem we need to build and scale Pax. Being here keeps us close to customers and partners in supply chain and trade compliance.

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 Pax YC application?

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