Stoke Space YC Application

Winter 2021Active

Stoke Space went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2021 batch as a Industrials 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 2021
Industry: IndustrialsAviation and Space
Team size: 305
Status: Active
Launched: 2021

Founders

Andy LapsaFounder
Tom FeldmanFounder

What Stoke Space does

Nova: Radically improving access to and from orbit. We’re unlocking the space economy by harnessing the power of full and rapid reusability with Nova, our 100% reusable rocket. Nova offers affordable access to, through, and from space with a 20x reduced cost to orbit. Our reusable upper-stage vehicle delivers on-demand access to any orbit at any time. Its unmatched capabilities enable dynamic space operations, including capture, reposition, long-dwell operations, and return of assets, as well as space cargo and logistics missions.

Stoke Space's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Stoke Space, Winter 2021 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Stoke Space

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Affordable, fully reusable rocket access to orbit

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

We are building Nova, a 100% reusable rocket with a reusable upper stage that provides reliable, on-demand access to space and back. It cuts launch costs by 20x and enables new space operations like satellite capture, repositioning, and returning cargo to Earth.

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

We live in Seattle, WA and will keep the company headquarters there after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Seattle is where we built our initial team and infrastructure. The aerospace talent and industry connections here support our operations and manufacturing needs.

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 Stoke Space YC application?

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