KERNEL (YC S25) — Crazy fast, open source infra for AI agents to use the internet
Kernel is crazy fast, open source infra for AI agents to access the internet 🧠🕸️ - Built on unikernels for crazy fast cold starts and low resource usage - Sub-150ms cold starts on managed headful browsers - Built-in stealth mode with residential proxies and automatic CAPTCHA solving - Full observability: session recording, live view, and full logs - Persistent sessions that maintain cookies and auth across invocations - Native support for all browser and computer use frameworks - SOC 2 compliant and HIPAA-ready Trusted by Cash App, Rye, and 1000+ others. Backed by Accel & Y Combinator (S25).
KERNEL is a Y Combinator company in the Summer 2025 batch. Its directory entry describes it as: Crazy fast, open source infra for AI agents to use the Internet. The founders listed are Catherine Jue (Founder/CEO), Rafael Garcia (Founder/CTO) (Y Combinator directory entry, July 23, 2025).
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Example from a real report (our sample on Target): “Target eliminated approximately 1,800 corporate positions, with around 1,000 employees receiving layoff notices and the remainder accounted for by eliminating open roles.” Source: NBC News
Kernel is crazy fast, open source infra for AI agents to access the internet 🧠🕸️
- Built on unikernels for crazy fast cold starts and low resource usage
- Sub-150ms cold starts on managed headful browsers
- Built-in stealth mode with residential proxies and automatic CAPTCHA solving
- Full observability: session recording, live view, and full logs
- Persistent sessions that maintain cookies and auth across invocations
- Native support for all browser and computer use frameworks
- SOC 2 compliant and HIPAA-ready
Trusted by Cash App, Rye, and 1000+ others. Backed by Accel & Y Combinator (S25).
Catherine Jue
Founder/CEO
Rafael Garcia
Founder/CTO
Founders, titles and bios as the company published them. Photographs are our own copies of the ones on that record, so they do not break when the original link expires.
One of 338 companies held here in B2B › Infrastructure.
No investor is drawn from a Form D — the form states how many invested and never who. The one investor on this graph is named because a batch has exactly one.
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Example from a real report (our sample on Target): “Target eliminated approximately 1,800 corporate positions, with around 1,000 employees receiving layoff notices and the remainder accounted for by eliminating open roles.” Source: NBC News
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What They Do, And How The Money Works
Who Runs It, And How To Reach Them
The Money: Funding, Valuation, Runway
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Warning Bells
Sources
1 cited source found
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