SparkGift YC Application

Winter 2015Inactive

SparkGift went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2015 batch as a Fintech 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 2015
Industry: FintechConsumer Finance
Team size: 2
Status: Inactive
Launched: 2014

Founders

Peggy MangotFounder/CEO
Bob HaiglerFounder/CTO

What SparkGift does

SparkGift is a Y Combinator backed technology startup that makes it easy to give investments as gifts. The founders came together with a common vision that it should be as easy to give someone an investment in the future, as it is to give someone a retail gift card. SparkGift supports small dollar gifts and fractional shares, so you can give someone a $20 investment in Apple or a Vanguard index fund. SparkGift is creating products that make investing simple, enjoyable and accessible to the masses. Our mission is to use gifts to create new savers & investors at scale.

SparkGift's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

SparkGift, Winter 2015 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

SparkGift

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Send stocks and index funds as gifts

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

We built SparkGift to let anyone send stocks or index funds as gifts, even small dollar amounts and fractional shares. It's like gifting retail cards but for investments. Our product creates new savers by making giving investments simple and affordable.

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

We live and work in San Francisco, CA, and plan to base the company here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is where our team is and the hub for fintech startups. Being here gives us access to talent and investors familiar with investing and financial products.

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 SparkGift YC application?

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