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YC companies founded by ex-NASA people

40 Y Combinator companies with a founder who worked at NASA before.

Updated weekly, last on November 9, 2026. Roster from Y Combinator's public directory.

Hiring the mostlast 60 days
14 roles
AthelasS16
  1. 2Mach98
  2. 3Icarus5
See all 6
Fastest growingteam, 6 months
+67%
FrescoF24
  1. 2Clarion+48%
  2. 3Icarus+46%
See all 10
Shrinkingteam, 12 months
−19%
AthelasS16
  1. 2Raptor Maps−14%
  2. 3MaverickX−4%
See all 3
Raised the mostlast 12 months
$10M
ClarionW24
  1. 2Athelas$3.8M
  2. 3Contrario$2.3M
See all 3
Companies
40
Active
28
Hiring, last 60 days
6
Open roles, 60 days
31
People on these teams
1,190
Showing 40 of 40 companies
CompanyBatchTeam6 mo12 moOpen rolesTotal raisedLast round
Extensible, Integrated Technology that Simplifies Health Systems
S16309−10%−19%14$154MUndisclosed round$3.8M, Jun 2026
We’re building a platform to empower cities to plan the best possible…
W15Acquired187+4%+8%0$27MGrant$15M, Jul 2020
Open Finance API platform for Latam.
W20125+10%+12%YC$70MUndisclosed round$15M, Apr 2025
Raptor Maps builds software to manage the solar PV lifecycle.
S1696−14%−14%1$62.2MSeries C$35M, Dec 2024
Stratospheric birds for defense
F2573+46%+143%5$650KYC investment$500K, Dec 2025
AI hiring platform powered by expert recruiters
W2562+13%+130%0$2.8MSeed$2.3M, May 2026
AI CAD Software for Civil Engineering
S2140+11%+21%8$16.8MSeed$14.4M, Jul 2024
We automate creator marketing for the world's largest brands
S2533+38%+57%YC$500KYC investment$500K, Sep 2025
Simple, fun, and fast electric vehicles.
S12Acquired32−3% 0$73MSeries B$60M, Dec 2018
The AI communication layer for healthcare
W2431+48%+48%1$10.5MSeed$10M, Sep 2026
Engineering the future of chemistry for natural resource extraction
S2227 −4%0
Digital program for tinnitus
W2224+4%+20%0$4MSeed$3.3M, Jul 2022
Open-Core Pricing and Billing Engine
S22Inactive220%0%0SeedOct 2022
Autonomous construction on Earth and beyond
S2615+15%+50%2$4.5MYC investment$500K, Aug 2026
America's Golden Dome for Drones
S2511+38% YC$6.5MSeed$6M, Sep 2025
AI copilot for construction estimators
F2410+67%+67%YC$500KYC investment$500K, Dec 2024
Tracking methane emissions with satellites
S23100%−17%0$4.6MSeed$4M, Mar 2024
Continuous offensive security for the enterprise.
F257  YC$500KYC investment$500K, Dec 2025
The Cursor for Chip Design - Delivering Silicon-Ready Chip Designs…
S257  0$500KYC investment$500K, Sep 2025
AI research lab automating all of investing
W247  YC
Targeting the Tumor Ecosystem to address cancer drug resistance.
W2260%0%0$2.3MSeed$1.8M, Oct 2024
Helping 100+ brands bring all quality and compliance operations…
W20Acquired60%−14%0$7.1MSeed$1.5M, Jul 2023
Data Versioning, Data Pipelines, and Data Lineage
W15Acquired6 +20%0$28.1MSeries B$16M, Aug 2020
Submarine drones for defense
X265  0$500KYC investment$500K, Jun 2026
Autonomous Runtime Security
X265  0Pre-seed (before YC)Dec 2025
AI spacecraft operators that lives onboard the vehicle
F264  YC
Gigascale Nanomanufacturing
X254  0SeedMay 2025
Generative AI Photographer for E-Commerce
W23Acquired4  0$3.3MSeed$2.2M, May 2023
The AI equipment manager for post-acute care
F253  0$500KYC investment$500K, Dec 2025
Navigate any set of data - no matter how large - in minutes.
W253 −40%0$500KYC investment$500K, Jan 2025
AI Agents for Audit
W253  0$500KYC investment$500K, Mar 2025
Web, Desktop, and Mobile apps with one codebase in Rust
S23Acquired3  0$500KYC investment$500K, Jun 2023
We make law firms AI-native.
S262  0
The notebook that thinks with you.
S25Acquired2−89%−92%0$1.4MYC investment$500K, Jul 2025
API sandboxes, built for AI agents
S261  0$500KYC investment$500K, Dec 2025
AI Agents for Pharmacies
F25Acquired1  0$500KYC investment$500K, Sep 2025
AI for the physical world
W251  0$500KYC investment$500K, Mar 2025
Delightful team-building events for remote companies
W20Inactive1  0$150KYC investment$150K, Mar 2020
Replaces paper patient lists for doctors.
S14Acquired1  0$500KUndisclosed round$500K, Jan 2017
Embed PDFs, PowerPoints, and other documents into web and mobile apps
W10Acquired1  0SeedApr 2010

How this works

1. The roster

Every launched company in YC's public directory, with its batch, status, industry and location. New companies show up the week YC lists them.

2. The numbers

Each company is matched to Crustdata by its website. Crustdata adds team size and its change over 6 and 12 months, open roles from job postings, reported funding, and founders' past employers.

3. The lists

Hiring the most counts distinct roles posted in the last 60 days. Growth needs 10+ people today, shrinking 20+ a year ago, so tiny teams do not top the lists. Rebuilt every week.

Built with Crustdata. Get your own API key and build your own.

The numbers on this page come from three Crustdata API calls. Crustdata tags 5,000+ companies with Y Combinator as an investor; swap the filter for any investor, industry or headcount range and track your own list, with founders' work emails one call away.

  • Company search for team size, growth and funding
  • Job search with a count by company, for who is hiring and for what
  • A watch that re-runs the search weekly and sends only what changed
# 1. every company with Y Combinator as an investor
curl https://api.crustdata.com/company/search \
  -H "authorization: Bearer $CRUSTDATA_API_KEY" \
  -H "x-api-version: 2025-11-01" \
  -d '{
    "filters": { "field": "funding.investors",
                 "type": "in", "value": ["Y Combinator"] },
    "fields": ["basic_info.name",
      "headcount.total", "headcount.growth_percent",
      "funding.total_investment_usd"],
    "limit": 100
  }'

# 2. open listings per company, last 60 days (limit 0 = counts only)
curl https://api.crustdata.com/job/search \
  -H "authorization: Bearer $CRUSTDATA_API_KEY" \
  -H "x-api-version: 2025-11-01" \
  -d '{
  "filters": { "op": "and", "conditions": [
    { "field": "company.basic_info.company_id",
      "type": "in", "value": [...] },
    { "field": "metadata.date_added",
      "type": "=>", "value": "2026-08-24" } ]},
  "limit": 0,
  "aggregations": [{ "type": "group_by",
    "field": "company.basic_info.company_id", "agg": "count" }]
}'

# 3. the same company filter as a weekly watch: POST /watch/company/search

Questions about ex-NASA founded YC companies

How many ex-NASA founded YC companies are there?

40 Y Combinator companies have a founder who worked at NASA; 28 are active.

Which ex-NASA founded YC companies are hiring?

6 companies posted roles in the last 60 days, led by Athelas (14 roles), Mach9 (8 roles) and Icarus (5 roles). 11 mark themselves as hiring on YC's directory.

Which ex-NASA founded YC companies are growing fastest?

By team growth over 6 months (10+ people): Fresco (+67%), Clarion (+48%) and Icarus (+46%).

Which ex-NASA founded YC companies raised the most?

Largest latest rounds in the last 12 months, after their YC batch: Clarion ($10M), Athelas ($3.8M) and Contrario ($2.3M).

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