At Y Combinator’s Spring 2025 Demo Day on Wednesday, practically each presenting startup had one thing to do with AI — they’re both creating AI brokers or creating instruments to facilitate their improvement.
Indeed, a number of founders appear to be taking a leaf out of the pages of a number of profitable AI startups: about half a dozen startups have been presenting variations of “Cursor for X.” For instance, Den is constructing a “Cursor for information employees,” and Vessence is on its method to make a “Cursor for attorneys.”
It wasn’t all solely about AI, although. We observed a number of startups are engaged on robotics, which appears to be having a little bit of a revival in the intervening time.
Below are among the startups that caught each buyers’ and our consideration.
Anvil
What it does: website positioning for LLMs
Why it’s a favorite: How folks seek for content material is altering, with people utilizing varied AI instruments like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity to seek out content material. Understandably, manufacturers must discover a method to enhance their visibility on these platforms. Anvil claims it helps manufacturers measure, optimize and enhance their presence on these AI instruments.
Atum Works
What it does: Builds 3D chips
Why it’s a favorite: Transistors aren’t getting smaller as quick as they used to, so Atum’s founders suggest the perfect new method to put extra transistors on a chip, and due to this fact enhance processing energy, is to stack them in three dimensions. Investors informed me that Atum’s imaginative and prescient is so revolutionary that the corporate has an opportunity to develop into the following NVIDIA.
Auctor
What it does: Automates enterprise software program implementation
Why it’s a favorite: The startup says outstanding software program distributors like SAP, ServiceNow, AWS and Box have already reached out to make use of Auctor’s answer themselves and doubtlessly for assist with integrating software program at buyer websites.
Cactus
What it does: AI copilot for solopreneurs
Why it’s a favorite: Cactus says individuals who run companies all by themselves are sometimes too busy to pursue new alternatives. The startup says its AI bot can take off among the load by answering calls and accepting funds in your behalf.
Den
What it does: Cursor for enterprise information employees
Why it’s a favorite: Investors informed me this is among the hottest firms within the batch. Den guarantees its AI brokers can exchange Slack and Notion, enabling an organization’s staff to work together and share info with software program tailor-made to every enterprise’s particular wants.
Eloquent AI
What it does: Automates buyer operations with AI
Why it’s a favorite: Eloquent says its AI bots might help prospects of economic providers firms do issues like routinely unfreeze financial institution accounts or add drivers to automotive insurance coverage insurance policies. In different phrases, Eloquent guarantees an finish to lengthy waits for human customer support. The startup claims monetary firms can deploy its AI close to immediately with no need to contain inside engineering groups. Eloquent has already raised “a big seed spherical,” Tugce Bulut, the startup’s co-founder and CEO mentioned on the TBPN podcast.
LLM Data Company
What it does: Tooling for analysis and reinforcement studying
Why it’s a favorite: Evaluating all the brand new AI instruments for high quality is snowballing into an enormous, troublesome drawback. LLM Data Company says it might probably assist with its personal LLMs that may consider the standard of an AI agent, and it’s already working with prospects together with Perplexity.
Scalar Field
What it does: AI-powered Bloomberg terminal
Why it’s a favorite: “Terminals are dashboards and never considering instruments,” says Amandeep Singh, co-founder of Scalar Field. While the startup’s AI brokers gained’t “suppose” for you, it claims they will manipulate monetary knowledge with extra flexibility than present monetary instruments.
Sygaldry
What it does: Quantum accelerated AI servers to hurry up AI coaching and inference
Why it’s a favorite: While a completely functioning quantum laptop should still be years away, the trade has been making progress. What caught my eye about Sygaldry is that its co-founder and CEO is Chad Rigetti, who based and took his firm public through a SPAC in 2021.
Vybe
What it does: Vibe coding to construct functions
Why it’s a favorite: Investors who noticed a demo of Vybe constructing apps informed me that it might probably create all kinds of cool instruments. One individual I talked to even known as it a “clear winner” of the batch.
