Verbling YC Application

Summer 2011Acquired

Verbling went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2011 batch as a Education 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 2011
Industry: Education
Team size: 2
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2012

Founders

Mikael BernsteinFounder/CEO

What Verbling does

Verbling’s mission is to empower people all over the world to become fluent in a foreign language. We use online live video technology to help people develop their skills together with teachers and students on a global scale. The core team is based in San Francisco, California. The teachers and students who make our mission possible are spread across six continents.

Verbling's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Verbling, Summer 2011 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Verbling

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Language learning through video chat.

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

We built Verbling to connect people wanting to learn languages with teachers via live video chat. Our platform lets users practice speaking in real time with native speakers or instructors without needing to travel or attend classes in person. It's focused on improving fluency through conversation, something hard to replicate with apps or text-based tools.

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

We live in San Francisco, CA, and the company is based here now and will remain here after YC.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco gives us direct access to technical talent and a strong startup community, which helps us move faster and find partners. Being here also puts us close to early adopters interested in language learning technology.

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 Verbling YC application?

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