YCS26· AI· DevtoolsHilstart
Autonomous Hardware Testing
ActiveChecked 24h ago
Founders
- William A'courtFounder/CEO
- Simon AlexanderFounder/CTO
- Rahul BhatiFounder
- Josh SchoemanFounder
Same space
Competitors
Closest in what they build, same category.
NormalS25Testing and certifying the hardware of the futureShared: hardwareActive
PhasesS25AI for the physical worldShared: physicalActive
EmbedderS25The Enterprise AI Platform for Embedded SoftwareShared: developer tools, hardwareActive
OhmW23Ohm helps engineering teams accelerate hardware development & testing.Shared: hardwareActive
TensilS19We turn machine learning models into custom hardware.Shared: hardwareInactive
Adjacent
Overlapping tags, a different niche.
SimanticF26Firmware simulation for AI agentsShared: developer tools, hardwareActive
MobotW19Mobot is a QA-as-a-service platform using actual mechanical robotsShared: developer tools, hardwareActive
hardware intelligenceS26AI tools for the chips your AI runs onShared: developer tools, hardwareActive
StoaS26The market behind AI hardware.Shared: hardwareActive
Integrated ReasoningS22Faster processors for solving NP-complete problemsShared: developer tools, hardwareActive
Also from S26 in AI
Batchmates in Summer 2026.
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ArchalS26API sandboxes, built for AI agentsActive
CarSignalS26The AI Operating System for Auto Shops.Active
CodagS26The AI gateway for cheaper, faster, permissioned agents.Active
ConiferS26Least cost routing system to reduce 70%+ token spendActive
Outside YC
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About Hilstart
We build physical agent harnesses to enable AI to debug, validate, and ship functional hardware and software.
San Francisco, CA, USA
Hilstart: questions
Which YC batch was Hilstart in?
Hilstart was in Y Combinator's Summer 2026 batch (S26).
Is Hilstart still active?
Y Combinator lists Hilstart as active.
Who founded Hilstart?
Hilstart's founders, as listed on its YC page: William A'court (Founder/CEO), Simon Alexander (Founder/CTO), Rahul Bhati (Founder), Josh Schoeman (Founder).
Where is Hilstart based?
Hilstart lists San Francisco, CA, USA as its location on YC's directory.
Not affiliated with Y Combinator. From YC's public directory. Logos via logo.dev; trademarks belong to their owners.