Companies with a Polish founder rarely look Polish on paper. YC files each startup under its US address, so its own directory shows almost no Poles. Count by founders instead and Poland has 34 YC companies, with 2026 the record year at 8. Add Airbnb, whose co-founders have Polish family roots, and the YC list grows to 35. Beyond YC, Polish-born co-founders stand behind OpenAI, Snowflake, ICEYE and ElevenLabs, and people with Polish family roots helped build Apple and ran YouTube
Y Combinator
34 companies with Polish founders, plus Airbnb's Polish family roots · batches W09 to F26
35
YC companies with Polish founders or Polish family roots
8
in the 2026 batches, the most of any year
25
still active · 5 acquired · 5 closed
≥$3.6B
combined disclosed and estimated funding, including Airbnb
$98.9B
combined market caps, valuations and exit values
$12.3B
available annual revenue or run-rate of active companies
Companies by batch year
Airbnb in 2009, three companies in 2012, and a record eight in 2026
ActiveAcquiredClosed
Batch codes: W winter, S summer, F fall, X and P spring. Status as of 09.10.2026
Where they sit
Best-guess HQ and offices of the YC companies. Tap a dot to list the companies there
North America32 office pins · 4 metros
Europe15 office pins · 6 metros
Locations from the original directory, plus Airbnb's San Francisco HQ. Companies with multiple bases are pinned in each, so 35 companies make 47 pins
The 35 YC companies
Portraits show founders with Polish birth or family roots
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Status
Office
Showing 35 of 35
Plain figures are reported. est marks an estimate. ≥ marks a disclosed lower bound. Financial periods vary; Airbnb's dates and sources are on its card
Beyond YC
Polish founders of companies built outside YC, plus people with Polish family roots who founded or ran major tech companies around the world
$1.12T
combined available value for 19 of 21 companies with a Polish founder, OpenAI's $852B included
$135.6B
available annual revenue or run-rate for 19 of those 21 companies, OpenAI's $70.0B included
$4.91T
Apple's market cap. Co-founder Steve Wozniak has Polish ancestry
The 26 companies
Values in USD, checked through 11.10.2026. Financial periods vary; open Details & sources on the new cards
Link
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Link to Poland: Polish-bornPolish parent(s)Polish ancestryNot confirmed · est marks an estimate · ≥ marks a disclosed lower bound
Someone missing?
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