---
title: "Patterns Across 5 Years of YC Investing"
description: "Analyze 5 years of Y Combinator data revealing key startup trends: B2B surge to 90%, cybersecurity growth, and shifting venture capital investment patterns since 2020."
categories: ["data analysis","fundraising"]
keywords: ["venture capital","Y Combinator","YC investing","B2B startups","cybersecurity trends","manufacturing growth","AI companies","startup funding patterns","investment analysis","Tomasz Tunguz"]
ai_summary: "Analysis of Y Combinator's investment patterns from 2020 to 2024 highlights the surge in B2B, cybersecurity, and manufacturing startups."
date: 2025-06-09
lastmod: 2026-07-28
canonical_url: https://www.tomtunguz.com/yc-trends-last-five-years/
author: "Tomasz Tunguz"
---

Where venture capital flows, innovation follows. And for more than a decade, few faucets have been watched more closely than Y Combinator. An analysis of their investment patterns since 2020 doesn't just reveal the accelerator's strategy—it provides a map to the entire startup ecosystem's next chapter.


With Demo Day approaching this week & inspired by [Jamesin Seidel's YC Series A analysis](https://jamesin.substack.com/p/whats-working-for-yc-companies-since), I wondered how YC investment patterns have changed since 2020. 

![image](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzawgnnlr/image/upload/pxflhlzgntqdvler1djc.png)

Cybersecurity and industrial/manufacturing are the two fastest growing categories. Education & life sciences are right behind. The Wiz acquisition and the overall growth rates of security companies as a durable budget within software spending has propelled security more broadly. Similarly manufacturing startups have seized on the tariff-induced reshoring opportunity. 

![image](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzawgnnlr/image/upload/yd8rse2bcji4oh0arhnw.png)

B2B companies have increased their share from roughly 80 to 90% over the last five years, which is a parallel to the broader venture industry.


![image](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzawgnnlr/image/upload/fpnkq3gmomry75u2nlpu.png)
Crypto/web3 remains around 5% of investments. The 2022 spike followed the Coinbase IPO in 2021. It's a steady but not a very large fraction of companies.


![image](https://res.cloudinary.com/dzawgnnlr/image/upload/x7f7gcaynftyd0jubphn.png)

AI companies on average raise a little bit more, but the delta is not yet statistically significant - even though [AI companies broadly do raise a premium.](https://tomtunguz.com/ai-premium-2024-08-16/)

Ultimately, YC’s portfolio mirrors the broader industry’s shift toward pragmatism. The significant growth isn’t in speculative tech, but in essential tools for manufacturing, security, and B2B. The takeaway is clear: the surest path to funding runs straight through solving a customer's most expensive problems.