ByteAsk raises $1M from YC to build AI agents for C and C++ devs
Most AI coding tools are built for Python and JavaScript developers. ByteAsk is betting there is a large underserved gap in C and C++, and Y Combinator just backed that thesis with $1 million.
The Round
ByteAsk raised $1M in a round led by Y Combinator and Entrepreneur First, with angel investors also participating. The San Francisco-based startup was founded in June 2026 and has been selected for YC’s Fall 2026 batch. It operates across the US and India.
What ByteAsk Builds
The company builds AI coding agents specifically for C and C++ developers working in high-stakes industries: defence, aerospace, robotics, high-frequency trading, automotive, and semiconductors.
The founders, Anirudha Kulkarni (CEO) and Pratyush Saini (CTO), are IIT Delhi computer science graduates who previously cofounded LawSutra AI, a legal AI startup acquired by legal research company Manupatra within four months of launch. Their stated thesis is that generic AI coding agents fail in environments where reliability, verification, and correctness are non-negotiable.
The Numbers They’re Claiming
- Engineers use ByteAsk approximately six times more intensively per day than a comparable open-source coding agent.
- Weekly active users are doubling week-on-week.
- On ByteAsk’s internal benchmark of real firmware engineering tickets, its smaller model resolves 89% of tickets, versus 61% for the best frontier model tested without the environment.
What’s Next
ByteAsk plans to use the capital to grow engineering and research teams across San Francisco and Bengaluru, invest in GPU compute and training data, and build enterprise-grade security and on-premises infrastructure. Initial focus will be on large firms in high-frequency trading, automotive, and embedded systems before expanding further.
The company also says it is developing its own post-training approach for C++, with plans to release one of the first language models specifically post-trained for the language within six to eight months.
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