AI & Data Startup Survival Rate
Of every 100 startups that started more than 10 years ago, 25 have shut down, 37 were acquired, 2 went public and 36 are still running.
Out of 100 startups
- 60Still running
- 0Went public
- 21Acquired
- 19Shut down
Compared with all startups
Startups at least 5 years old, from fewest to most shutdowns
Where each year’s startups are today
Share of startups by current status, grouped by the year they started
- Still running
- Went public
- Acquired
- Shut down
Data table
| Year | Companies | Still running | Went public | Acquired | Shut down |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 100% |
| 2006 | 1 | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| 2008 | 3 | 33% | 0% | 67% | 0% |
| 2009 | 3 | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| 2010 | 7 | 14% | 0% | 57% | 29% |
| 2011 | 13 | 23% | 0% | 54% | 23% |
| 2012 | 16 | 19% | 13% | 31% | 38% |
| 2013 | 12 | 33% | 0% | 58% | 8% |
| 2014 | 25 | 32% | 0% | 40% | 28% |
| 2015 | 36 | 50% | 0% | 25% | 25% |
| 2016 | 40 | 57% | 0% | 25% | 18% |
| 2017 | 53 | 51% | 0% | 25% | 25% |
| 2018 | 65 | 71% | 0% | 20% | 9% |
| 2019 | 76 | 57% | 0% | 20% | 24% |
| 2020 | 114 | 61% | 0% | 20% | 19% |
| 2021 | 203 | 73% | 0% | 12% | 14% |
| 2022 | 251 | 81% | 0% | 7% | 12% |
| 2023 | 313 | 74% | 0% | 12% | 14% |
| 2024 | 430 | 90% | 0% | 4% | 6% |
| 2025 | 439 | 97% | 0% | 2% | 2% |
| 2026 | 427 | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Odds of getting big
Out of 100 startups that are at least 5 years old
Still running60 · 1 in 2
10+ employees43 · 1 in 2
50+ employees18 · 1 in 6
200+ employees5 · 1 in 19
1,000+ employees0.9 · 1 in 111
What a survivor looks like
Team size of startups that are still running
Year 25typical team sizeTop 10%: 17+
Year 410typical team sizeTop 10%: 46+
Year 624typical team sizeTop 10%: 100+
Year 825typical team sizeTop 10%: 195+
Year 10115typical team sizeTop 10%: 1,000+
Related lists
How to read this: the data covers companies in the public Y Combinator directory. Years are counted from the year of the company’s YC batch. Status is what the directory shows today, so the charts compare groups of different ages rather than following the same companies over time.