Y Combinator works with a few hundred startups twice each year, showing them off in a final pitch-a-thon. On Wednesday, the first half of Y Combinator’s Summer 2023 cohort told a group of collected investors and media members what they are working on and how much progress they have made.

With a smaller group than in prior summer batches, this collection of upstart tech companies featured lots of AI-powered startups, some interesting fintech offerings and even a company that claims to be building an “asset-light,” Chipotle-like business in Africa. It was an interesting group of dozens and dozens of startups.

As always, the TechCrunch+ crew were tuned in with laptops at the ready. What follows are our favorites from the first day’s pitches, listed in no particular order. For each favorite, we’ve provided a short description of what the company is building and why it stood out to us.

We’ll be back on Thursday with favorites and more from Day 2.

Details: An information platform for construction managers.

Why it’s a fave: Construction technology is one of the most exciting sectors to follow, and I love seeing companies try to reduce friction and help streamline and simplify what is a risky and complicated job. Constructable helps workers find information easily, taking away at least a little bit of stress when it comes to getting a project done. A founder told me that general contractors were always looking for ways to automate their compliance management systems. A new way to automate communications within the sector seems like the natural step. Constructable uses AI to connect the data and documents, as well as answer questions for the construction managers so they don’t have to spend time going to page seven of Google. This is a fitting place for AI to find itself, and the company says it could help prevent serious mistakes.

Who picked it: Dominic-Madori Davis

Source @TechCrunch