Y Combinator and Bolt Partner To Support Hardware Startups

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Feb 05, 2015, 01:06 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Y Combinator, the Mountain View-based startup seed fund, announced today that it is partnering with Bolt, a venture fund that invests in early-stage startups at the intersection of hardware and software. Bolt will advise YC hardware companies on product design, engineering, volume manufacturing and go-to-market strategy.

Earlier this week, Bolt announced the closing of a $25M fund and expansion to a new facility in San Francisco. In addition to investing capital, Bolt brings hands-on engineering and design for manufacturing expertise to the companies it invests in. YC companies will have the opportunity to work with Bolt's senior engineering staff and investing partners, who have collectively designed, funded, and shipped tens of millions of units. The partnership will supplement YC's extensive network of partners and alumni.

"Like Bolt, YC invests in exceptional founding teams building disruptive products," said Ben Einstein, Bolt's co-founder and general partner. "We've really enjoyed working with the teams so far."

Bolt staff will utilize the world-class prototyping facility at their office at Autodesk's Pier 9 Workshop on the Embarcadero in downtown San Francisco to further support YC companies in building high-potential hardware startups.

Y Combinator president Sam Altman said, "Hardware is hard, and when we met the team at Bolt we knew a partnership with them would bring phenomenal value for our hardware companies."

The partnership with YC marks Bolt's expansion to the west coast, where they are actively investing in seed stage companies at the intersection of hardware and software.

ABOUT BOLT

Founded in 2013, Bolt is a venture capital fund that invests in early-stage startups at the intersection of hardware and software. Companies Bolt invests in receive support from a world-class engineering team, access to cutting-edge prototyping shops in San Francisco and Boston, and help with volume manufacturing. Bolt was founded by Ben Einstein, Axel Bichara, and Scott Miller. For more information visit www.bolt.io and follow Bolt on twitter @BoltVC.

ABOUT Y COMBINATOR

Y Combinator is a startup seed fund based in Mountain View, CA. In 2005, Y Combinator developed a new model of startup funding. Twice a year they invest a small amount of money in a large number of startups. The startups move to Silicon Valley for 3 months, and the YC partners work closely with each company to get them into the best possible shape and refine their pitch to investors. Each batch culminates in Demo Day, when the startups present their companies to a carefully selected audience of investors. Y Combinator has invested in over 830 companies including Dropbox, Airbnb, Stripe, Reddit, Heroku, Justin.TV and Weebly. The combined market capitalization of YC companies is over $30B.

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CONTACT: Elizabeth Dobrska, [email protected], 413-250-9498

SOURCE Bolt