PlayAbly YC Application

Summer 2019Inactive

PlayAbly went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2019 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 2019
Industry: B2B
Team size: 5
Status: Inactive
Launched: 2025

Founders

Michael BirkFounder
John ChengFounder

What PlayAbly does

PlayAbly turns ignored touchpoints into mini-games that capture attention, drive action, and generate real-time first-party data - across eCommerce, B2B funnels, restaurants, and in-store retail. As attention spans shrink to six seconds, brands can't afford lifeless popups, forms, or landing pages. We replace them with gamified conversion layers - quizzes, swipe games, stackers - that perform like performance marketing. At Unity, our founding team helped personalize gameplay and ads for over 2 billion users. Now, we're bringing that behavioral insight to brand engagement, building a no-code platform where anyone can launch PlayAbly experiences in minutes. Think: instead of a "Spin to Win," a match-3 game that sells your product, segments your audience, and gets 4× the opt-ins. Why now? Retargeting costs are up. Email/SMS open rates are down. And today’s customers are conditioned by the dopamine loops of TikTok and mobile games. Generic funnels can’t compete - but interactive ones can. PlayAbly is already driving results: Classkick (B2B): 5× ROI, 3× higher email open rates Skout Snacks (DTC): 7× ROI, 20% higher AOV, 4× opt-in rates 89% of previously lost sessions re-engaged through PlayAbly games We monetize on a usage + performance model, enabling fast adoption and deep long-term value. We're building a new category: AI-powered gamification that converts attention into intent, on any surface where customers meet brands.

PlayAbly's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

PlayAbly, Summer 2019 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

PlayAbly

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Games that help brands engage customers

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

We build gamified conversion layers - mini-games like quizzes, swipe games, and stackers - that brands can embed where customers interact with them. Our no-code platform lets marketers launch these games in minutes to boost engagement, increase opt-ins, and generate first-party data in real time. Instead of boring popups or forms, PlayAbly creates interactive experiences tailored to retail, eCommerce, B2B funnels, and restaurants.

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

We live and work remotely; the company is fully remote and would remain so after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

The founders are distributed and have built the product remotely from day one. We don't see a location advantage since our customers are mostly online brands across industries.

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 PlayAbly YC application?

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