Vanhawks YC Application

Winter 2015Acquired

Vanhawks went through Y Combinator in the Winter 2015 batch as a Consumer 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: ConsumerConsumer Electronics
Team size: 11
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2014

Founders

Sohaib ZahidFounder/CEO
Adil Aftab IqbalFounder
Ali ZahidFounder/COO

What Vanhawks does

Vanhawks is both a hardware and software company with a goal of changing up the urban commute. Technology impacts our lives in countless ways - you’re connected, why shouldn’t your bike be? Our product is the Valour, a connected, carbon fibre, commuter bicycle with built in GPS, blind-spot sensors, integrated front and back lights, and more. The Valour will radically change the way you ride. Built upon safety first in mind, a turn by turn navigation is incorporated in the handle bar to keep your eyes on the road. A LED indicator lets you know when you are approaching your next turn, and you're alerted of any object in your blind spot. To further enhance your cycling experience, the application tracks your riding history including calories burned, distance traveled, and much more, to serve you better. The data it acquires is used to provide you with suggestions on which route will get you to your destination safest and fastest or help you burn the most calories.

Vanhawks's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

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

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Vanhawks

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Smart carbon fibre commuter bike with IoT features

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

We are building the Valour, a connected commuter bike made from carbon fibre with built-in GPS, blind-spot sensors, and integrated front and back lights. It has turn-by-turn navigation on the handlebar with LED indicators for safe riding without losing focus on the road. Our app tracks ride data like calories and distance and suggests safer or faster routes based on that data.

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

We live in Toronto, ON, Canada, and after YC the company would remain based there.

Explain your decision regarding location.

Toronto has a growing tech and design community, and it's where our team and manufacturing connections are. We want to build here rather than move to Silicon Valley because this is where our expertise and resources are.

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 Vanhawks YC application?

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