Sendbird YC Application

Winter 2016Active

Sendbird went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2016 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 2016
Industry: B2BEngineering, Product and Design
Team size: 300
Status: Active
Launched: 2015

Founders

John S. KimCo-Founder/CEO
Brandon JeonFounder/Head of Trust and Safety
Harry KimFounder/CTO

What Sendbird does

We believe in a future where AI unlocks human potential across all facets of life. We envision an A2A (Agent-to-Agent) world where AI agents connect businesses and individuals, empowering them to achieve more than ever before. It’s a future where the impossible becomes possible, and human achievement is no longer bound by time and cognitive load. We power over 300M+ people's conversations every month and we are working with the leading customers such as DoorDash, Match Group, Yahoo!, PayPal, Walgreens, and have raised $220M+ in total funding from ICONIQ, Tiger Global, Meritech, Emergence, SoftBank Vision Fund, Steadfast, Shasta, and August.

Sendbird's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Sendbird, Winter 2016 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Sendbird

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

The AI agent that doesn't just support, it delights.

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

We build an AI-powered communication platform that enables businesses to embed messaging and conversational experiences into their products. Our product handles billions of messages every month, connecting companies like DoorDash and PayPal with their users through chat that goes beyond support to proactive, helpful AI agents.

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

We live in San Mateo, CA, and plan to base the company here after YC as well.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Mateo gives us access to technical talent, proximity to customers, and a strong ecosystem that fits our B2B enterprise focus.

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 Sendbird YC application?

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