YC Demo Day: Selling Data to AI Labs Is the Most Common Business Model
bosmeny · x · 2026-09-10
A YC W19 founder returned to Demo Day after 7 years and shared key trends:
- Top 3 categories: defense, robotics, and AI supply chain (data center defense, electrician training, floating data centers).
- Dominant theme: selling data to AI labs as intermediate revenue — many teams across robotics, bio, and manufacturing claimed contracts with a top-3 lab.
- Two "OpenRouter for agents" companies and two "AI for small businesses" companies.
- Multiple teams built defense startups from Ukraine.
- Lots of inference/neocloud pitches ("the new Fireworks or Baseten"); very few AI-driven services or fintech companies.
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