Startupsby GlyphWhy it ranks
How the rank works- team of 5Team size · YC's directory+4
- went through YCProgram · this site+4
A sum of public facts, not a judgement and not investment advice.
Competitors
| Company | Category | Status | Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI | Not stated | Plug and Play | |
| AI | Not stated | Antler2024 | |
| AI | Active | YCF25 | |
| AI | Not stated | Antler2025 | |
| AI | Not stated | speedrunSR004 |
Adjacent
| Company | Category | Status | Program |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI | Active | YCW22 | |
| Other | Not stated | Antler2024 | |
| Devtools | Inactive | YCW26 | |
| Other | Active | YCW21 | |
| Other | Not stated | MassChallengeSwitzerland and UK 2026 |
Also from W26 in AI
All of W26Founders
- Joon Won SongFounder/CEO
- Eunju MoonFounder/CTO
About Instinct
Capital allocation is becoming a more important part of individual economic life. Finance is moving toward a global, onchain, 24/7 future with thousands of markets trading at once. The asset management industry is built around the scarcity of financial expertise and the cost of organizing people around capital. Institutions cover global markets by employing analysts, researchers, and quants around the clock. AI turns this organizational capacity into software. Instinct is building the harness for this transition. Instinct is a proactive team of agents that searches thousands of markets, investigates opportunities, and operates 24/7. The individual becomes the portfolio manager, Instinct becomes the investment firm operating around them. As institutional advantages become widely accessible, the edge concentrates in each trader’s worldview, judgment, and bets. The first one-person investment firm managing $1 billion will emerge within two years. It will run on Instinct.
- YC batch
- W26 · Winter 2026
- Status, per YC
- Active
- Category
- AI
- Team size
- 5
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Founded
- 2026
- Checked
- 6h ago
YC tags: Machine Learning, Trading, AI, Cryptocurrency
Changes seen
Newly tagged AI; no longer tagged Artificial Intelligence.
Instinct: questions
Which YC batch was Instinct in?
Instinct was in Y Combinator's Winter 2026 batch (W26).
Is Instinct still active?
Y Combinator lists Instinct as active.
Who founded Instinct?
Instinct's founders, as listed on its YC page: Joon Won Song (Founder/CEO), Eunju Moon (Founder/CTO).
Where is Instinct based?
Instinct lists San Francisco, CA, USA as its location on YC's directory.