Y Combinator’s Summer 2023 cohort wrapped up its parade of pitches to investors and media alike on Thursday. If you missed our look at startups from the first day’s presentations, head here.
While the well-known accelerator has trimmed its batch size in recent years, it’s still working with a few hundreds companies at a time, so the pitches came fast and furious throughout the morning and afternoon.
Team TechCrunch+ once again hunkered down with a livestream, notes docs and lots of coffee. What follows are our stand-out picks from the second day. As always, the list is in no particular order, and we are hardly trying to say that other companies that pitched are not worth your checking out. The best part of a demo day is that all teams get the same allotted time, so each has the same shot at making a splash.
So who did stand out from the group? Alex liked Envelope, along with a few other companies, as he can never make up his mind. Christine thought that Flint was more than neat, while Anna picked Silimate, a startup that a few of us thought was very interesting.
As with day one, the second tranche of startups today from YC did feature lots of AI. But other sectors of focus stood out. For example, the number of startups trying to make trucking, and the larger logistics world, work better and faster. Anyone who can recall that supply-chain mess of the early pandemic days can’t help but like that.
Now, to the list! Enjoy:
Envelope
Details: Neobank with a focus on budgeting
Why it’s a fave: If you are not familiar, the “envelope method” is a form of budgeting, making it a pretty slick name for this upstart neobank. During its pitch, Envelope used Mint as a comparison point, which I quite liked. Mint’s software gives users a way to collect information from their various financial accounts in one location. The idea is that you can do more, if you know more. Envelope seems to have that in mind with features like flexible budgeting to help users stay on track. Frankly, any tool that helps consumers manage their finances better, is fine by me.
Who picked it: Alex Wilhelm
Elsewhere in fintech-land: Cascading AI told investors Thursday that it is building AI for banking. This, frankly, makes a lot of sense if the company can get through the thorny privacy issues we presume are at play.
Flint
Details: ChatGPT for schools
Why it’s a fave: Children using ChatGPT is something that gives this parent of two high schoolers heart palpitations. However, as Flint says on its website, “ChatGPT has changed education, and there’s no going back.” So this is me embracing it.
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