Y Combinator is now a launch calendar: four batches a year, and in 2026 those batches carried 484 of the 513 AI startups in our database. Tracking them well is an app problem, not a news problem. You need a calendar for the drops, alerts for the day, and a database for everything after. Here is the setup.
1. The batch tracker (your calendar)
Batches are uneven, so plan attention by size: Winter 83 AI startups, Spring 79, Summer 173, Fall 149. Summer demo season is a part time job for a week; Winter is an afternoon. A tracker that lists each batch as a browsable cohort, not a press release, is the core app.
| YC 2026 batch | AI startups |
|---|---|
| YC Winter 2026 | 83 |
| YC Spring 2026 | 79 |
| YC Summer 2026 | 173 |
| YC Fall 2026 | 149 |
| Marketplace listings (no batch) | 29 |
2. Alerts and the database (your memory)
On launch day, category alerts beat the keynote: they deliver the 36 new agent startups from Spring without the 43 that are not agents. Afterwards, everything depends on the database: founders (named on 474 of our 513 listings), headquarters, category and story for every company, searchable when a name resurfaces in a pitch deck six months later.
3. What to skip
Skip apps that rank startups by hype scores you cannot inspect. A tracker's job is evidence: who, what, which batch, and, for the 12 marketplace companies in our data, how much revenue, Stripe-verified. If an app cannot show its source, it is entertainment.
4. Between demo days
Batches end; tracking should not. The quiet months are when the database earns its keep: companies pivot their descriptions, marketplace listings start reporting revenue, and the startup you ignored in March is the one hiring in October. Set a monthly reminder to re-run your category searches and diff the results against your watchlist. Four loud weeks a year, eight quiet ones, one system that covers both.
5. Demo day itself
On the day, work the tracker, not the livestream chat. Open the batch page, sort by your categories, and star before you read: first pass names only, second pass one line descriptions, third pass founders. In a 173 company batch that order turns an overwhelming drop into three passes of twenty minutes. The companies you star become your watchlist; the rest stays in the database, searchable when memory fails.
Source: AIToolGuide 2026 startups database (513 AI companies), compiled from Y Combinator 2026 batch listings and the TrustMRR and Indie Hackers marketplaces.