Virool YC Application

Summer 2012Acquired

Virool went through Y Combinator in the Summer 2012 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: Summer 2012
Industry: B2BMarketing
Team size: 51
Status: Acquired
Launched: 2012

Founders

Alexander DebelovFounder/CEO

What Virool does

A LITTLE ABOUT VIROOL Virool is a video distribution platform for brand marketers that leverages programmatic technology to reach key influencers, making content more engaging and the ability to share easier than ever. Having served more than 75,000 global campaigns, Virool’s robust ActivView product suite and in-article native unit, deliver fully transparent and insightful analytics that offers viewability guarantees, emotional resonance and fraud protection. Within our platform, users can leverage a proprietary DMP of 450MM unique profiles to build custom, addressable audience segments across all screens. More than 100,000 multi-channel sites have activated video content from Virool via partnerships including Rubicon Project and direct native placements. Founded in 2012, Virool has raised $18.62M in funding from a collection of top VC firms and angel investors, including $6.62M in its seed round. It is the biggest seed investment that anymore Y-Combinator graduate has ever received.

Virool's YC application, reconstructed

Y Combinator application

Virool, Summer 2012 batch. The real form questions, answered from public data.

Founders2
Company7
Progress7
Idea4
Equity3
Curious2
Batch Preference1

Company

Company name

Virool

Describe what your company does in 50 characters or less.

Native video advertising platform

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

We built a video distribution platform that helps brand marketers run native video ad campaigns at scale. Our product connects advertisers with key influencers and websites, providing detailed analytics on viewability and engagement that traditional video ad tools don't offer. It also includes fraud protection and a large audience data pool for precise targeting.

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

We live in San Francisco, CA, and Virool is based there as well.

Explain your decision regarding location.

San Francisco is where our target clients - brands and media companies - are concentrated. Being close to them and potential partners is a must for us to build relationships and iterate quickly.

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 Virool YC application?

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