Ask HN: Is it still worth applying to YC after raising $1M

Ask HN: Is it still worth applying to YC after raising $1M–$5M from VCs?

1 Brandon_Chen 0 7/12/2025, 11:02:11 PM

A friend and I were discussing whether it still makes sense to apply to Y Combinator if a startup has already raised a significant seed round — say $1M or even $5M — from institutional VCs.

Would YC still provide meaningful value at that stage, or is it mostly helpful for earlier, pre-traction companies? Curious if anyone has experience with this or has seen it play out.

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Ask HN: Is it still worth applying to YC after raising $1M–$5M from VCs?

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