Sponge
YC W26 · Active · Financial infrastructure for the agent economy
Competitors
| Company | Category | Status | Program |
|---|---|---|---|
 EnrolaShared: agent economy, human, infrastructureNot statedAI | AI | Not stated | Antler2023 |
 Naturalnot in a program hereShared: agent hold, lets, moneyElsewhereOther | Other | Elsewhere |
Adjacent
| Company | Category | Status | Program |
|---|---|---|---|
 Lean TechnologiesShared: financial infrastructure, bank account, dataNot statedOther | Other | Not stated | 500 Global2019 |
 FidelShared: financial infrastructure, directly, cardNot statedOther | Other | Not stated | 500 Global2019 |
 SaidaShared: bank account, spend, letsInactiveOther | Other | Inactive | YCS15 |
 shatterdomeShared: financial infrastructureNot statedOther | Other | Not stated | EF2025 |
 FLIZpayShared: accept paymentNot statedOther | Other | Not stated | Antler2024 |
Also from W26 in AI
All of W26| Company | Category | Status |
|---|---|---|
 /dev/fast/dev/fast is the AI-native code forgeActiveAI, Devtools | AI, Devtools | Active |
 10x ScienceThe AI-native platform for next-generation protein characterization.ActiveAI | AI | Active |
 21stUI building blocks for the agentic internetActiveAI, Devtools | AI, Devtools | Active |
 AemonThe Forward-Deployed AI Research EngineerActiveAI, Devtools | AI, Devtools | Active |
 Agentic FabriqThe control plane for AI agents.ActiveAI | AI | Active |
 Alt-XBuilding the best venue for private markets exposure.ActiveAI, Data | AI, Data | Active |
Founders
- Eric ZhangFounder
- Jae ChoiFounder
- Rishab LuthraFounder
About Sponge
Sponge is the easiest way for agents to hold and spend money, and for businesses to sell directly to them. For agents: Sponge lets agents hold funds and transact autonomously with other agents and businesses using bank accounts, cards, and crypto. Agents can autonomously purchase services such as email, browser use, and premium data without human involvement. For businesses: Sponge makes it easy to onboard and accept payments from agents without human interaction. Businesses can sell their services directly to agents with a few clicks, no code changes required.
- YC batch
- W26 · Winter 2026
- Status, per YC
- Active
- Category
- AI
- Team size
- 3
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Founded
- 2026
- Checked
- 4h ago
Sponge: questions
Which YC batch was Sponge in?
Sponge was in Y Combinator's Winter 2026 batch (W26).
Is Sponge still active?
Y Combinator lists Sponge as active.
Who founded Sponge?
Sponge's founders, as listed on its YC page: Eric Zhang (Founder), Jae Choi (Founder), Rishab Luthra (Founder).
Where is Sponge based?
Sponge lists San Francisco, CA, USA as its location on YC's directory.
Sources: each program's public company list, read twice a week. Not affiliated with Y Combinator or any other program. Logos via logo.dev; trademarks belong to their owners.