YC's P26 batch: 61% are 2-person teams, and solo founders hit 19%
An analysis of 192 companies in 's Spring 2026 batch reveals the smallest median team size in recent memory. Two-founder teams make up 61% of the cohort, s 19%, and three-person teams 18%. Only four or five companies have four or more founders.
The shift is largely attributed to AI tools compressing work that once required five people down to two. Founder profiles have also changed notably. Two 18-year-old founders from Agra, India, filmed their YC introduction video from their bedrooms; one had been doing freelance work since age 13.
Another founder skipped high school entirely, graduated university at 19, worked as a quant at Goldman Sachs and a software engineer at Stripe, and is now building real-world testing environments for . The data shows the 'small team' is no longer just — it is the statistical norm at one of the world's most selective startup programs.
Key points
- 61% of YC P26 companies have exactly 2 founders — the smallest median team size on record
- 1 in 5 accepted companies has a
- AI tools are credited with letting 2 people do what once needed 5
- Younger and more geographically diverse founders are getting in than before
- Small team size is now a statistical norm at a top , not just a talking point