The deadline to apply for YC Winter 2021 is Wednesday, September 23 at 8pm PT.

We created a deadline because deadlines are good motivational mechanisms for finishing tasks. Unsurprisingly, about eighty percent of all YC applications are submitted the week before the deadline.

But we’ve sometimes seen companies not apply to YC because they don’t want to wait until our regular interview cycle (October and November for the Winter 2021 batch) to raise money. What many people don’t know is that YC reviews applications and interviews startups all year round. We just interviewed and accepted three startups last week.

We can’t guarantee anything, but if you’re interested in the possibility of interviewing early, apply early.