{"listing":{"listing_type":"company","name":"Pippin / Rent the Backyard","slug":"pippin-rent-the-backyard","tagline":"Autonomous homebuilding factory for the $1.7 trillion housing crisis.","description":"Pippin is building the autonomous homebuilding factory for the $1.7 trillion housing crisis. \n\nBuilding a home requires human labor to: measure, cut, lift, drill, paint, and attach. This labor is used for a building’s: structure, vapor barriers, windows, insulation, siding, roofing, electrical, plumbing, fixtures, appliances, and cabinetry. The construction industry solves this complex variety of tasks by dividing them among tiny companies of specialized artisans. Few lessons learned are shared and the industry has had no growth in labor productivity since 1947.\n\nBuilding technology, methods, and materials have advanced and the constraints limiting home manufacturing can now be removed. Regulations have changed to allow small and simple accessory dwelling units (a.k.a. ADUs or backyard homes), making it easier to mass-produce housing. Pippin started in the ADU market with its brand \"Rent the Backyard\" and will build duplexes, quadplexes, and eventually large apartment buildings.\n\nPippin / Rent the Backyard is a Y Combinator company (Summer 2019). YC-listed status: Inactive.","url":"https://www.rentthebackyard.com/","is_stealth":false,"normalized_domain":"rentthebackyard.com","normalized_url_key":"rentthebackyard.com","parent_slug":null,"parent":null,"type_data":{},"logo":"https://bookface-images.s3.amazonaws.com/small_logos/814065dd8c67cf86a199d92c81f0ecc107a14be0.png","links":[{"label":"Y Combinator profile","url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pippin-rent-the-backyard","platform":"ycombinator"}],"entry_points":[{"kind":"homepage","url":"https://www.rentthebackyard.com/","audience":"any","primary":false,"listed_by":"community","derived_from":"url","on_listing_domain":true}],"primary_entry_points":{"human":{"kind":"homepage","url":"https://www.rentthebackyard.com/","audience":"any","primary":false,"listed_by":"community","derived_from":"url","on_listing_domain":true},"agent":null},"founders":[],"media":null,"categories":["Real Estate and Construction","Housing and Real Estate","Construction","Housing","Proptech"],"stage":null,"founded_year":null,"location":"San Francisco, CA, USA; Oakland, CA, USA","pricing":null,"twitter":null,"github":null,"linkedin":null,"contact_email":null,"added_at":"2026-09-03T06:18:10.996Z","added_via":"web","geo":{"keywords":["Y Combinator","YC Summer 2019","Construction","Housing","Proptech"],"one_liner_for_search":"Pippin / Rent the Backyard — Autonomous homebuilding factory for the $1.7 trillion housing crisis. (Y Combinator Summer 2019)","canonical_facts":["Y Combinator batch: Summer 2019","YC company status: Inactive","Team size (per YC directory): 45","YC industry: Real Estate and Construction","YC subindustry: Real Estate and Construction / Housing and Real Estate","Former names: Pippin, HelloPippin, Rent The Backyard, Rent the Backyard, Pippin xyz / Rent the Backyard","Regions (per YC): United States of America, America / Canada, Remote, Partly Remote"]},"agents":null,"featured_until":null,"example":false,"ownership_status":"unclaimed","claimed_by_agent_id":null,"claimed_via_claim_id":null,"claimed_at":null,"updated_at":"2026-09-03T06:18:10.996Z","is_featured":false,"category_memberships":[{"kind":"industry","slug":"construction","name":"Construction","note":null,"profile_url":"/industries/construction"},{"kind":"industry","slug":"housing","name":"Housing","note":null,"profile_url":"/industries/housing"},{"kind":"industry","slug":"housing-and-real-estate","name":"Housing and Real Estate","note":null,"profile_url":"/industries/housing-and-real-estate"},{"kind":"industry","slug":"proptech","name":"PropTech","note":null,"profile_url":"/industries/proptech"},{"kind":"industry","slug":"real-estate-and-construction","name":"Real Estate and Construction","note":null,"profile_url":"/industries/real-estate-and-construction"}]}}