Fastest growing categories and companies across Y Combinator's portfolio in 2023

Just did a study on Y Combinator's portfolio to identify the fastest-growing US-based startups as well as categories, based on headcount growth, in 2023.

Universe of companies: All YC portfolio companies that have raised more than $5m in funding and have more than 10 employees. A total of about 350 companies.

Fastest growing industries by median headcount growth:

  - Aviation & Aerospace 6.80%

  - Medical Device 6.21%

  - Biotechnology 5.85%

  - Transportation/Trucking 5.40%

  - Insurance 4.84%

Fastest growing categories by median headcount growth:

  - Recruiting 9%

  - Supply Chain Management 8.12%

  - Productivity Tools 8.05%

  - Aerospace 6.83%

  - Biotechnology 6.80%

AI, Data, and Robots: The top startups in the industries above are leveraging AI, data and robots to improve processes in specific industries.

Top Growth Companies: Deel (global HR and payroll), Epsilon3 (software tools for space and manufacturing), and AssemblyAI (AWS for AI and ML) lead in headcount growth.