Exceptions are made, but in general, the poor need not apply. YC actively excludes poor people through socioeconomic discrimination.
YC truly is "the Harvard of accelerators" as their homepage proudly quoted.
Flutterwave, OMG Digital, Paystack, Platzi, etc.
Please do explain how they exclude poor people? The application fee is $0. You could from $0 in your pocket to $100,000+ for 3 months.
It's the country club crowd sprinkled with safe seeming outsiders that act as token representatives. It's not merit based but class (aka "culture") based.
It's a market opportunity for a fund that doesn't think of rich people as being better than poor people.
A lot more geniuses among the poor than the rich.
What's worse is they're incredibly thin skinned and lacking in introspection or humility. Typical rich people.