You asked about Engineering, Product and Design
37 people built something like it. 5 are gone.
That is 15% of the ones whose fate we could settle, against 23% across the whole register. 4 were acquired.
| Launched | What it was | Today |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-06-01 | YCVerihubs AI-powered Deepfake Detection · verihubs.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCMindee AI Document Understanding API · mindee.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCVapi Voice AI for developers. · vapi.ai | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCauthzed Authorization Infrastructure securing AI at OpenAI, Zoom, & more · authzed.com | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCMach9 AI CAD Software for Civil Engineering · mach9.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | The fastest way to ship airtight AI · openlayer.com | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCAbstra Automate finance operations with Python and AI · abstra.io | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Affogato AI — Your Agent for instant TikToks, Reels, and ads. · affogato.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | AI native mobile testing. · mobileboost.io | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Plan and review AI generated code · vibekanban.com | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Never code alone. · squire.ai | gone |
| 2021-01-01 | YCunSurvey AI-led market research interviews, no scheduling, instant insights. · unsurvey.ai | acquired |
| 2021-01-01 | Build better computer vision models by building better datasets · segments.ai | acquired |
| 2021-01-01 | YCCodeball AI-Powered Code Review · codeball.ai | gone |
| 2021-06-01 | YCBytebot Bytebot is the open source container for AI desktop agents. · bytebot.ai | acquired |
| 2021-01-01 | YCWaydev Engineering intelligence for AI transformation · waydev.co | still up |
| 2021-02-22 | buyforlife.com | moved |
| 2021-01-01 | YCFathom The most flexible AI meeting notetaker ever built. · fathom.ai | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCTreinta Software and AI tools for SMBs in the US and Latin America · treinta.co | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCSully.ai Autonomous team of AI agents that runs the entire hospital operations · sully.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCSecoda Secoda is the AI layer for your Analytics · secoda.co | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCDailybot Make all team work visible — people and AI agents · dailybot.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCRoutine AI-native all-in-one workspace for startups · routine.co | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | Cut your writing time by 40% with AI-powered autocomplete · compose.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCPotion AI for product formulation · potion.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | AI-designed Affinity Reagents · medium.bio | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCStardex AI native ATS + CRM for executive search firms · stardex.com | still up |
| 2021-01-16 | meetgeek.ai | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCVenu AI Meet qualified leads in person by automating conference production · venu3d.com | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCRivia.AI Interactive Product Demos · rivia.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-24 | reviewr.ai | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | Tiktok for fashion - where designers show their work + build traction · revery.ai | gone |
| 2021-06-01 | The complete production quality platform. AI-powered E2E testing,… · artillery.io | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | AI that solves email overwhelm. Not another mail app. · foragemail.com | gone |
| 2021-01-01 | YCFriz AI Social Media Manager · usefriz.com | acquired |
| 2021-06-01 | YCHirebolt AI engineering capacity. Made simple. ⚡️ · hirebolt.com | still up |
| 2021-01-01 | YCClear The unbiased AI and data layer for skin health. · getclearapp.com | still up |
| 2021-06-01 | YCPatterns Next-Gen Financial Analysis and Reporting with AI Agents · patterns.app | gone |
How this compares
Y Combinator reports its own outcomes, including acquisitions. The other two are judged by asking the domain, so they are not measured the same way and are never averaged together.
The register re-probes every domain it holds. Some that answered last month stop answering. We send that list — what went quiet, and what it was — once a month. Nothing else.
How this was made. Show HN entries are every post from 2021 to 2023 with at least five points that linked to its own domain; code hosts and free hosting are excluded, because a repository outlives the effort behind it. Product Hunt entries needed 100 votes — a far higher bar, so they are the promoted top slice rather than a like-for-like sample. Both are judged by asking the domain whether it still answers: gone means it no longer resolves, refuses the connection, serves a parking page, or says plainly that it shut down. An HTTP error is not counted as gone — a server answering 404 is one somebody still pays for, and an audit of 25 gone-calls found two such sites alive with only a moved homepage. Y Combinator entries use the status YC publishes itself, which is why only those can say acquired. Squatted domains — a lapsed name now serving somebody else's site — are not detected, so these figures run slightly low.