Top 15 AI companies founded by women from Y Combinator

Power in Numbers (PIN)
7 min readJun 12, 2023

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Y Combinator (YC) is one of the most prestigious startup accelerators globally. It’s played a pivotal role in supporting and funding some of the most well known startups like DropBox, Airbnb, Stripe, and more.

Below we take a look at the top 15 AI companies founded by women who participated in YC.

1. Allure Systems — uses AI to produce apparel images for eCommerce

Founded by: Gabrielle Chou
Money raised: $3.2M

Gabrielle Chou is a visionary entrepreneur and the founder of Allure Systems, one of the leading AI companies from Y Combinator’s portfolio. With a deep passion for leveraging technology to transform industries, she has made significant contributions to the world of e-commerce through her innovative use of AI in producing apparel images.

By using AI algorithms, Allure Systems generates high-quality, realistic images of apparel that accurately capture the texture, fit, and appearance, offering consumers a more engaging and trustworthy shopping experience.

2. 1910 Genetics — a biotechnology company integrating AI, computation, and biological automation to improve drug development

Founded by: Jennifer Nwankwo
Money raised: $26.7M

Jennifer Nwankwo is a trailblazing entrepreneur and the founder of 1910 Genetics, a pioneering biotechnology company that combines AI, computation, and biological automation to revolutionize the field of drug development. With her passion for innovation and a deep understanding of the intersection between technology and biology, Jennifer has made remarkable strides in advancing the pharmaceutical industry.

Through the integration of AI algorithms and automation, 1910Genetics streamlines the identification and optimization of potential drug candidates, significantly reducing the time and resources required for preclinical research.

3. Arist — helps companies deliver learning, training, and nudges in the flow of work via Teams, Slack, and text message-based course

Founded by: Maxine Anderson
Money raised: $16.1M

With a passion for improving workplace productivity and knowledge retention, Maxine has made significant contributions to the field of employee education through her innovative use of AI and messaging platforms.

Arist enables companies to deliver interactive courses, training materials, and nudges directly to employees within their existing communication channels, ensuring continuous learning and skill development.

4. Awesomic — an app that matches designers with their clients

Founded by: Stacy Pavlyshyna
Money raised: $2.8M

Stacy Pavlyshyna is a talented entrepreneur and the founder of Awesomic, a remarkable AI-powered app that connects designers with clients. With a strong passion for design and a deep understanding of the creative industry, Stacy has made significant contributions to the field by leveraging AI technology to streamline the process of matching designers with their clients.

5. BedrockAI — software that extracts hard-to-find information in a public company filing like annual reports

Founded by: Kris Bennatti
Money raised: $1M

Kris Bennatti is a visionary entrepreneur and the founder of BedrockAI, a groundbreaking AI software company that specializes in extracting hard-to-find information from public company filings like annual reports. Kris has made significant contributions to the field of data analytics and business intelligence.

BedrockAI’s advanced algorithms and linguistic analysis techniques ensure accurate and comprehensive information retrieval, saving businesses valuable time and resources.

6. Blue Cargo — a predictive algorithm platform that monitors, forecasts, and optimizes operations in container ports

Founded by: Alex Griffe
Money raised: $14M

Alex Griffe is an innovative entrepreneur and the founder of Blue Cargo. With a deep understanding of logistics and a passion for leveraging technology to drive efficiency, Alex has made significant contributions to the field of maritime operations through Blue Cargo.

Blue Cargo’s predictive algorithms enable port operators to make informed decisions, minimize delays, and improve overall efficiency in managing container traffic.

7. CrowdAI — a no code end-to-end computer vision platform that enables anyone to build their production-ready computer vision models in days

Founded by: Devaki Raj
Money raised: $8.4M

Devaki Raj is an accomplished entrepreneur and the founder of CrowdAI, a revolutionary AI company that offers a no-code, end-to-end computer vision platform. With a passion for democratizing AI and empowering individuals, Devaki has made significant contributions to the field of computer vision by enabling anyone to build production-ready computer vision models in a matter of days.

CrowdAI’s no-code platform empowers users with varying levels of technical expertise to create, train, and deploy computer vision models without the need for extensive coding knowledge.

8. DoverHq — a recruiting company that offers interview and recruitment consulting services

Founded by: Anvi Shah Pai
Money raised: $22.8M

Anvi Shah Pai is a dynamic entrepreneur and the founder of DoverHq, a prominent recruiting company that offers interview and recruitment consulting services. With a deep understanding of the challenges faced by both job seekers and employers in the hiring process, Anvi has made significant contributions to the field of recruitment by leveraging technology and expert consulting to streamline and optimize the hiring experience.

DoverHq’s innovative solutions empower job seekers to perform at their best during interviews and enable employers to make well-informed hiring decisions.

9. Dropee — a SaaS-enabled marketplace that connects local independent retailers with brands via an ordering app

Founded by: Lennise Rasip
Money raised: $8.9M

Lennise Rasip is a driven entrepreneur and the founder of Dropee. With a keen understanding of the challenges faced by retailers and brands in traditional supply chains, Lennise has made significant contributions to the field of e-commerce by revolutionizing the way retailers and brands connect and conduct business.

Dropee’s innovative approach not only simplifies the ordering process but also provides real-time insights and analytics for both retailers and brands, improving efficiency and reducing costs.

10. BoldVoice — a communication coaching app that helps non-native speakers improve their communication and confidence

Founded by: Anada Lakra
Money raised: $3.1M

Anada Lakra is a visionary entrepreneur and the founder of BoldVoice. With a passion for empowering individuals to overcome language barriers, Anada has made significant contributions to the field of language learning and communication coaching through BoldVoice.

BoldVoice empowers users to improve pronunciation, intonation, and overall communication skills, enabling them to express themselves with clarity and confidence.

11. Mutinycorp — offers a personalization website, advertising, account-based marketing, and paid media optimization services

Founded by: Jaleh Rezaei
Money raised: $71.6M

Jaleh Rezaei is an accomplished entrepreneur and the founder of Mutiny Corp, a pioneering company that offers personalized website personalization, advertising, account-based marketing, and paid media optimization services. With a deep understanding of the power of personalization in marketing, Jaleh has made significant contributions to the field by providing innovative solutions that drive customer engagement and conversion.

Mutiny Corp’s platform leverages AI algorithms and data analytics to analyze customer behavior, segment audiences, and deliver personalized content and offers, resulting in higher conversion rates and improved customer satisfaction.

12. Darrow — helps legal professionals discover violations and extract legal claims from a vast array of data

Founded by: Gila Hayat
Money raised: $24M

Gila Hayat is a remarkable entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of Darrow, a cutting-edge technology company. As the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Darrow, Gila has played a crucial role in shaping the company’s data-centric AI approach and technological vision.

She has built and currently manages a growing team of 16 data scientists, engineers, and developers, overseeing the development of Darrow’s proprietary software that transforms unstructured data into machine-readable laws.

13. Searchlight - a predictive talent platform that improves hiring efficiency & quality of hire by connecting talent assessments & analytics to outcomes

Founded by: Anna Wang, Kerry Wang
Money raised: $19.5M

Kerry Wang, the CEO and co-founder of Searchlight, holds a BA with distinction in Human Biology and an MS in Computer Science from Stanford University. Her previous roles at Google and McKinsey, coupled with her Forbes 30 under 30 recognition, showcase her expertise and dedication.

The inspiration for the company arose from their own experiences and the realization that traditional hiring processes often overlook candidates’ unique strengths. By leveraging data and AI, Kerry and Anna aim to address the soft skills mismatch and revolutionize the recruitment industry through Searchlight.

14. Warmly — provides instant insights and context on people during virtual meetings

Founded by: Carina Boo, Val Yermakova
Money raised: $4.9M

Warmly is a startup founded by ex-Googlers Max Greenwald, Carina Boo, and Val Yermakova. The company aims to help businesses find new customers by leveraging their network of existing customers.

The founders envision ending cold outreach by providing warm introductions and reducing the number of hops it takes to reach potential customers. Despite being less than a year old, Warmly is making waves in the tech scene with its innovative approach to customer acquisition and relationship management.

15. Athelas — develops technology to monitor chronically ill patients in their homes

Founded by: Deepika Bodapati
Money raised: $150.1M

Deepika Bodapati is a co-founder of Athelas and played a crucial role in developing the Athelas One device. The device allows users to test white blood cell counts at home and share the results with healthcare providers.

The Athelas One uses computer vision and machine learning to automate blood cell count analysis, replacing traditional methods.

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Power in Numbers (PIN)

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