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We’re investing €15M live in American startups with Blast Club members - Day 4
5/10TL;DR
A €15 million investment vehicle targeting Y Combinator startups is nearing its deadline, with more than €8.3 million in indicated commitments and a strategy built on broad diversification across 40 to 50 early-stage companies.
KEY POINTS
A €500,000 personal commitment into a pooled YC strategy
A €500,000 personal investment was announced into a live fundraising effort tied to the Y Combinator Fall 2026 batch. The target for the vehicle is €15 million, with entry for eligible participants starting at €500, spread across roughly 40 to 50 startups. At the time discussed, indicated commitments had already surpassed €8.3 million and later moved above €10 million.
A collective model designed for access and scale
The core pitch is that individual tickets are often too small to secure access to sought-after startup rounds, while pooled capital can open doors. The investment club behind the operation says it now has 14,000 members, has deployed €50 million, and has backed more than 300 Y Combinator startups across seven batches. That collective scale is presented as a way to negotiate better allocation, valuation, and access.
High-risk investing framed around diversification
The strategy is explicitly described as risky, with the possibility of losing all or part of invested capital. The approach relies on the power law of venture capital, where a small number of startups generate most portfolio returns. That logic underpins the emphasis on investing in batches rather than betting on one or two companies.
A filtering process focused on the top quarter of YC companies
The investment team says it narrows its focus to what it considers the top 25% of each Y Combinator cohort. YC itself is presented as highly selective, with four batches a year, around 20,000 applications per batch, and roughly 1% acceptance. The selection process includes pre-commitment indications, startup screening, calls with founders, negotiation, and then a final confirmation stage where investors can keep or withdraw their initial intent.
Data used to justify the batch approach
Historical YC performance is used to support the thesis. Cited examples include Summer 2005 at x243, Summer 2006 at x472, Summer 2007 at x1,491, and Winter 2009 at more than x11,000 in cumulative value creation terms. The point made is that early returns may appear flat for years before a few companies sharply reprice the whole cohort.
Winter 2009 and Winter 2016 offered as standout case studies
The Winter 2009 batch was described as growing from roughly $23 million in cumulative value at inception to about $161 billion later on, with names such as Stripe, Mixpanel and Bump cited among its companies. For Winter 2016, 16 out of 122 startups were said to have become unicorns within a decade, or about one in eight.
Seed valuations and upside expectations
The valuation gap between seed and later rounds is central to the sales argument. Seed-stage YC entries were described as potentially entering around tens of millions, while Series A valuations were characterized as often landing between $100 million and $400 million. One example cited involved a company entering at around $100 million and later reaching $400 million by Series A.
A broader criticism of conservative household investing
The campaign contrasts venture investing with the asset allocation habits of French households. It points to widespread use of savings accounts, primary residences, and life insurance, arguing that excessive focus on capital protection can leave savers lagging inflation and missing transformative growth opportunities. The message is not to abandon safety, but to combine a protective base with selective exposure to higher-risk, higher-upside assets.
Examples from the startup pipeline
Several portfolio anecdotes were highlighted to make the case for access to frontier technology. One company was described as developing a more targeted cancer treatment approach than conventional chemotherapy. Another, AirCaps, was cited for real-time translation glasses, while Lightberry was presented through robotics demonstrations. These examples were used to frame the portfolio as a way to back technologies shaping future industries.
CONCLUSION
The fundraising push reflects a growing retail appetite for pooled access to elite startup ecosystems, but it also underscores the core reality of venture capital: success depends on diversification, patience, and accepting that most outcomes will be uncertain while a few winners drive returns.
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