Y Combinator is a startup accelerator that invests in a large number of startups twice a year. It created a new model for funding startups. Twice a year, the company invests a small amount of money ($150k) in a large number of startups. The startup accelerator works intensively with the companies for three months, to get them into the best possible shape and refine their pitch to investors. Each cycle culminates in Demo Day when the startups present their companies to a carefully selected, invite-only audience.

Y Combinator

Liquid2 Ventures provides technology startups with seed-stage investments and is based in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded in 2015 by Joe Montana, Mike Miller, and Michael Ma.

Liquid 2 Ventures

Rebel Fund is a seed-stage venture capital fund powered by an elite network of Y Combinator alumni along with a proprietary machine learning algorithm for statistically predicting startup success.

Rebel Fund

BBQ Capital is an early-stage venture capital company.

BBQ Capital

Leap Forward invests in early-stage climate tech startups that accelerate decarbonization and carbon removal. The firm has a broad focus, including in energy-related sectors (transportation, buildings, grid tech, value chains), hard tech, green fintech and adaptation. Leap Forward is based in San Francisco, CA.

Leap Forward Ventures

Collaborative Fund is an investment fund that provides funding to companies based on creativity and collaborative consumption. The fund centers around two macro themes which drives business innovation in the coming years: the growth of the creative class and the concept of collaborative consumption. Craig Shapiro founded it in New York in 2010.

Collaborative Fund

Pioneer Fund is a fund of 420+ Y Combinator alumni, investing in the top Y Combinator startups.

Pioneer Fund

Day One Ventures is a venture capital firm that backs customer-obsessed companies and spearheads their communications. This enables the Day One team to become actively involved in its portfolio companies and plays a real, tangible role in helping them grow.  The firm invests across industries from pre-seed to seed - and occasionally series A, and invests between $100k and $5 million. Day One Ventures was founded by Masha Drokova, who is an angel investor, entrepreneur, communications executive, and Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree.

Day One Ventures

Bringing together investors and operators from Silicon Valley and beyond who are at the intersection of climate and technology in order to accelerate solutions to climate change.

Cool Climate Collective

Unruly is a new investment firm, aiming to find and fund the best founders building the most innovative companies at the frontiers of what's possible today. We invest early, are not scared of risky moonshots and become your biggest fans.

Unruly Capital

Overview invests in businesses addressing the mitigation of methane and other short-lived climate pollutants at the earliest stages.

Overview

Alga Biosciences

Alga Biosciences is a feed additive intended to eliminate agricultural methane emissions by cattle using algae. They use biochemistry to eliminate enteric methane emissions and provide natural red seaweed and feed additives, enabling farmers to save money and the community to fight against climate change and slow global warming.

<div>Alga Biosciences is a biotechnology company developing algae-based feed additives specifically designed to reduce methane emissions from cattle. The company claims that incorporating its feed additives into cattle diets can reduce methane emissions by up to 97% in beef cattle and 63% in dairy cattle.&nbsp;</div>

Driving livestock productivity using next-generation biotechnology

Livestock Biotech

This Y Combinator-backed startup helps reduce climate-warming methane in cow burps. Check out the pitch deck Alga Biosciences used to secure $4 million.

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 Alga Biosciences is a biotechnology company developing algae-based feed additives specifically designed to reduce methane emissions from cattle. The company claims that incorporating its feed additives into cattle diets can reduce methane emissions by up to 97% in beef cattle and 63% in dairy cattle.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 Alga Biosciences targets cattle owners and the broader agricultural sector with its methane-reducing feed additives. According to the company, using its products improved feed efficiency by re-directing calories to meat and milk production, which would otherwise be wasted in the form of methane burps, providing farmers with cost benefits.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 In its latest funding round in April 2023, the company raised USD 4 million led by Collaborative Fund, with participation from Y Combinator, Day One Ventures, Cool Climate Collective, Pioneer Fund, and Overview Capital. The funding was earmarked for developing its algae feed additive for larger commercial pilots.
 
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 Aviabiotic (formerly Chicken Probiotic) is a biotechnology company innovating in poultry health. The company specializes in creating probiotics engineered for enhanced thermostability, elimination of antibiotic resistance, and dependency on corn sugar, making them environmentally friendly. These probiotics are designed specifically for integrated poultry operations, addressing both health and efficiency in poultry production.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 Aviabiotic's latest funding was a grant received in 2020, which has facilitated the development and commercialization of its specialized probiotics.&nbsp;
 
 
 
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Aviabiotic

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 ZeaVaxx is an animal healthcare company using advanced biotechnology to improve vaccine effectiveness for animals. Its plant-derived nanoparticle adjuvant platform claims to offer advantages over aluminum-based ones that are falling short in current animal vaccine formulations due to low efficacy and compatibility issues. This platform is designed to enhance the immunogenicity of vaccines to ensure that the vaccines can provoke a stronger and more effective immune response in animals.
 
 
 
 
 ZeaVaxx flagship product, Zea-11, is a proprietary glucan-based nanoparticle derived from plants. Zea-11 claims to offer simplified extraction and chemical finalization, making it the first economically viable nanoparticle adjuvant for animal vaccines.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 In June 2018, the company secured USD 50,000 in pre-seed funding from the Purdue Ag-celerator.
 
 
 
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ZeaVaxx

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 Malcisbo, a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), is a Swiss biotechnology company developing novel vaccines for animal and human health. The company focuses on glycoengineering technologies to create efficient glycoconjugate vaccines to address bacterial diseases that impact animal health, human food safety, and zoonotic diseases.
 
 
 
 
 Its primary product offerings target Campylobacter infections in humans (to reduce food poisoning from chicken meat) and Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae (to reduce economic losses in the swine industry due to mortality, growth retardation, and the need for antibiotics).
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 As of May 2024, the company had been awarded 10 grants totaling CHF 3.5 million (~USD 3.8 million).
 
 
 
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Malcisbo

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 eggXYt is an Israeli biotech company that specializes in ultrasound technology for eggs. The company has developed a non-invasive, pre-incubation sex detection technology for chicken embryos, named seXYt, which allows poultry farmers to separate male and female layer chicks before incubation. This process claims to prevent unnecessary incubation of over 8 billion male layer chicks annually, which are otherwise disposed of after birth due to their unsuitability for the industry. These eggs are then repurposed and used outside the food industry, leading to lower costs and reduced resource waste in hatcheries.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 In November 2020, the company signed an R&amp;D licensing agreement with Tropic Biosciences to develop Avian influenza resistance in chickens through gene editing.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 eggXYt has received over USD 2.5 million in funding from the European Union through the Horizon 2020 SME Program for its sex detection technology and to expand its research into new areas such as disease resistance in poultry.
 
 
 
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eggXYt

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 BioRefic is a Latvian biotech company that develops biorefinery technology to produce advanced prebiotic ingredients and microbial Omega-3 fatty acids. It primarily serves the animal feed and aquaculture sectors by providing sustainable alternatives to traditional feed ingredients. Biorefic&rsquo;s products, which include xylooligosaccharide prebiotic (a gut microbiome enhancing ingredient to improve health and immunity and boost performance), are designed to enhance animal health and efficiency, thus reducing the overall environmental impact of agriculture.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 BioRefic has raised a total of EUR 250,000 in funding over two rounds, with its most recent funding coming from a non-equity assistance round supported by RootCamp. 
 
 
 
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BioRefic

Companies that offer solutions that edit (gene editing) or modify (gene modification) an animal's genome in a precise and targeted manner using methods such as TALEN's, CRISPR/Cas9, recombinant retroviruses, and sperm-mediated DNA transfer. The techniques change the existing genome to improve/express desired traits in livestock. The segment also covers companies that use an AI-based platform or otherwise to offer diagnostic testing services of the animal's genome that help livestock farmers identify genetic changes or diseases present in herds.

Companies that offer next-generation vaccines based on developments in DNA technology (e.g., mRNA vaccines) and biotechnology. The segment also includes medicines developed for the prevention and treatment of livestock diseases.

Companies that use a range of genetic techniques that can alter the DNA of animals more precisely than traditional breeding techniques. Techniques such as gender selection via sexed semen, genomic selection, or even gene editing methods like CRISPR are used to breed animals precisely with superior genetic traits.

Companies that produce natural ingredients or biological additives that can be added to animal feed for purposes such as improving nutrient uptake and the gut microbiome.

Biotech solutions to grow livestock that are of better traits and sustainable

Uses AI/machine learning to facilitate their platform/biotech processes like gene editing

Offers customization of genes and traits as required by farmers

Alga Biosciences

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