It is no doubt Y Combinator is the world's leading tech startup incubator. So, an opportunity for any tech startup to pass through their hands is one many relish. But, luckily enough, one has arrived in form of YC's startup school.
The incubator recently announced the return of Startup School it introduced last year.
"We’re hosting Startup School again this year," Y Combinator announced. Adding that this is a "free, 10-week, online course".
The course is "designed for any startup founder who would like to get help through the earliest, most difficult challenges of starting a company."
It will begin on August 27, 2018, and applications are now open for those interested.
But, why should one apply to Startup School?
Well, there are some new things YC has bundled into its FREE Startup School this year. And, any tech founder should consider them.
The Incubator will select 100 startups that it will deem to have performed well. These will receive equity free funding.
"For the first time ever we are going to give $10,000 in equity-free funding to 100 of the most promising companies that join and complete the course," YC wrote on their blog.
Additionally, they'll also get access to YCs partner in form of an online interview. "Those companies will also receive a video interview with a YC partner".
This is something startups that could be looking to become YC graduates should consider. Because the partners will be giving advice and are likely to aid you in how to apply for future YC batches.
Related: Take a look at these 14 Y Combinator graduates from Africa
Beyond that, you'll also get credit to a couple of services. YC pointed out that "startups will receive over $50,000 in credits to a variety of other services, Digital Ocean, Amazon Web Services, and Clerky."
This can reduce your overheads if you're currently using those services or plan to.
If you're looking to work with Stripe at one point in your journey, this could also be an opportunity for you because they will be "giving startups discounted payment processing and an invitation to Stripe Atlas to incorporate and open a company bank account.
Last year, Startup School received over 13,000 applications according to Y Combinator and "95 YC alumni volunteered their time to advise over 2,800 of those companies participating across 141 countries."
"Throughout the 10 weeks, we watched founders build products, talk to users, create local communities, and launch their companies. 1,587 (56%) of the companies completed the course, and, since then, 38 of them have been accepted to the core Y Combinator program and received YC funding."
South Africa's Vibescout - which participated in last year's Startup School cohort - said that it helped it "grow its movie aggregator 20% week-on-week, up 8,000 users [in November 2017] since it’s launch on the 19th of May[2017]."