Winter 2026
Demo Day Funds
Overview
The Demo Day Funds offer broad exposure to each Y Combinator (YC) batch through funds led by YC alumni or former partners. Fund leads select the startups, and investors can invest across the funds in one streamlined step.
Details
About Y Combinator
Four times a year, Y Combinator makes a number of small investments into early-stage startups. These selected startups participate in a 3-month accelerator program to refine their product, strategy, and pitch. At the end of each cycle, the teams present their startup to investors on Demo Day.
AngelList Demo Day access
Demo Day is YC's private, invitation-only event where the latest batch of startups presents to investors and media. Fund leads attend Demo Day and meet with founders ahead of presentations as part of their evaluation process.
While Demo Day is closed to the public, the Demo Day Funds provide structured access to these YC startups, providing investors the opportunity to participate in the batch despite the event’s limited availability.
Examples of investments are purely for illustrative purposes. There is no guarantee that the W26 Demo Day Funds will achieve the same exposure to or quality of portfolio companies as those held by any previous Demo Day Funds.
Profiles
Winter 2026 Batch
Fund Leads
Each fund is run independently by a YC alum or former partner. Your commitment can be allocated across funds at your discretion, and you may also choose to invest in specific funds.
Data
Past Returns
| Batch | Net IRR | Net TVPI | DDF Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2016 | 28% | 8.55x | Top Decile |
| Summer 2016 | -7% | 0.53x | Bottom Decile |
| Winter 2017 | 22% | 5.42x | Top Decile |
| Summer 2017 | 17% | 3.7x | Top Decile |
| Winter 2018 | 37% | 9.92x | Top Decile |
| Summer 2018 | 19% | 2.9x | Top Quartile |
| Winter 2019 | 45% | 11.63x | Top Decile |
| Summer 2019 | 13% | 2.12x | Top Quartile |
| Winter 2020 | 11% | 1.8x | Top Quartile |
| Summer 2020 | 40% | 4.93x | Top Decile |
| Winter 2021 | 7% | 1.38x | Top Quartile |
| Summer 2021 | 2% | 1.09x | Median |
| Winter 2022 | 7% | 1.32x | Top Quartile |
| Summer 2022 | 5% | 1.18x | Median |
| Winter 2023 | 7% | 1.2x | Median |
| Summer 2023 | 18% | 1.48x | Top Decile |
FAQs
What you need to know
Your commitment may be equally allocated across all funds, or you may also choose to invest in specific funds. Please note that individual funds may no longer be accepting additional investors at the time of your commitment. This means that you may not have access to every fund, depending on the time of your commitment.
The minimum to invest in an individual Demo Day Fund is $5K.
You can invest in all four funds or choose individual funds to invest in. To invest in funds individually, you can navigate to your Invites page inside the Pipeline tab and choose which funds you'd like to commit to.
Demo Day Funds have historically filled up quickly, and certain funds may stop accepting new investors before the target close date of March 16, 2026. Investments will be accepted until the close date or until the funds reach capacity.
The funds have no official relationship with YC or special access to YC startups.
There is no guarantee of returns. Typically, funds will return capital to investors if it receives proceeds from its investments (for example, from a portfolio company liquidation event), subject to the fund's carry payment to the Fund Lead and other fund expenses.
The funds are designed to invest in all the leads' YC deals from this batch until investable capital is fully deployed. However, investment opportunities may be rejected under certain circumstances (e.g. when a lead is conflicted).
Most YC companies raise via Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs). There may be many exceptions where the funds invest via a different structure.
Each fund pays management fees, administrative fees, and, if the fund is profitable, carry. Please review the relevant fund’s private placement memorandum (PPM) and operating documents for more information.
The fund leads (Benjamin, JJ, Philip, and Nate) source investment opportunities and manage the funds. Investment opportunities are then sent to AngelList Advisors, LLC (“AngelList”) for review.
AngelList is subject to SEC regulation as an exempt reporting adviser. AngelList will launch and maintain the fund throughout its lifetime. AngelList may reject investment opportunities on behalf of a fund in certain circumstances (e.g. if there is a conflict of interest).