Taggar’s relationship with Y Combinator began in 2007 when he, along with his cousin Haraj Taggar and the future Stripe founders Patrick and John Collison, brought theri startup, Automatic, through the program.
Even though Automatic was sold just a year later, this was an important step in creating a strong connection with a top accelerator. In 2011, he went through Y Combinator again, this time around with Zeus Living, a startup that bought homes to offer furnished accommodations with flexible terms for business and personal travel.
The company, named Initialized Capital, was co-founded by current YC chief Garry Tan, and Ied Zeus Living’s Series A funding, and Tan joined its board. At its highest point, the startup was valued at over $200 million and had an annual revenue run rate of almost $120 million, according to Taggar.
In late 2023, Zeus encountered significant headwinds as interest rates surged and the startup was sold to its competitor Blueground. Taggar launched Phosphor months after leaving Zeus. He reported to TechCrunch that he was excited by the opportunity to invest in a young AI startup and by Garry Tan’s leadership of the prestigious accelerator. “You could view this as a bet on Garry. I think he is taking Y Combinator to new levels,” he said.
Others include family offices and a larger asset manager that are taking a bet on Taggar in large part due to this connection and long-standing ties to Y Combinator.
“Kulveer is what you might call an OG alum from the early days of YC,” said YC partner Jared Friedman, also adding, “He’s close to me and to many of the folks who now run YC.”
Taggar’s experience was also a reason why the Phosphor for LPs and benefit for funder “Zeus was a really hard company to run. He has a tremendous number of battle scars from doing this hard thing in the physical world,” Friedman said. “I hear this from founders that he has incredible empathy for what they are going through, because he went through it all himself.”
