Entrepreneurs from Adelaide University have secured USD $500,000 in investment after their Adelaide-based artificial intelligence startup markup.one was accepted into Y Combinator’s Spring 2026 batch.
The company was founded by 19-year-old Chief Student Entrepreneur at Adelaide University, Cyrus Kelly, and 23-year-old alum Shyamsundar Shrestha. Kelly is among the youngest founders accepted into the program in its 21-year history.
Y Combinator is widely regarded as the world’s most selective startup accelerator, boasting an acceptance rate below one per cent. The program has been among the earliest investors in companies including Airbnb, Stripe, DoorDash, Twitch, and Reddit, and its alumni network includes some of the most influential technology companies in the world.
“This is an extraordinary opportunity not just for us, but for Adelaide,” Kelly said.
“Y Combinator represents the highest standard globally for early-stage startups, and we are proud to be building a world-class AI company from South Australia.”
The founders’ company, markup.one, is developing an AI-powered platform that generates brand-consistent marketing content as fully editable, code-based design assets.
Unlike conventional AI image generators, which sometimes produce static outputs that are difficult to modify and often lack brand coherence, markup.one’s approach produces structured, deterministic designs that can be precisely edited and reliably scaled across campaigns and channels.
“The way people create marketing content is fundamentally changing,” Kelly said.
“Static design tools weren't built for a world where brands need hundreds of personalised assets a day. People won’t spend four hours a day manually creating graphic designs. We've built the infrastructure for what comes next, and Y Combinator gives us the platform to prove it at scale.”
The acceptance places Kelly and Shrestha among a highly selective cohort of founders chosen from tens of thousands of global applicants. Companies backed by Y Combinator have a combined valuation exceeding USD $1.3 trillion.
The investment provides immediate runway for the founders to accelerate product development and expand their team as they travel to San Francisco for the duration of the Y Combinator program.
Shrestha said the acceptance demonstrates the global potential of ideas developed within Adelaide.
"The core technical challenge we solved at markup.one is generating designs that are both AI-driven and fully deterministic,” Shrestha said.
“We’re creating outputs that a brand team can trust and edit with precision, not just regenerate and hope for the best. We've built the architecture for a fundamentally different kind of creative pipeline. What we're shipping in the coming months will redefine how brands produce content at scale, solving a critical bottleneck that has prevented enterprise adoption of generative AI.
“Y Combinator gives us the platform to bring this technology to a global audience and scale the infrastructure to meet enterprise demand."
Kelly completed his Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences from the University of Adelaide at just 18, one of the youngest ever graduates from the University, and is currently on track to complete his Master of Business Administration at Adelaide University shortly after turning 20.
As Chief Student Entrepreneur at Adelaide University, he has supported and mentored more than 300 emerging startup founders.
Shrestha specialises in applied artificial intelligence and machine learning systems, having architected markup.one’s core AI infrastructure, including its generation engine, inference optimisation pipeline, and brand intelligence systems.
Originally from Nepal, Shrestha moved to Adelaide to complete his Bachelor of Mathematical and Computer Sciences. In December he won the Bright Spark Award in the Australian eChallenge, placing third overall out of 97 teams.
Both founders have been active members of Adelaide University’s innovation ecosystem, they are residents of ThincLab and have participated in the ThincSeed Accelerator and Tech eChallenge.
Kelly said the experience of working together at university was foundational in building markup.one. The pair previously collaborated on communities.one, a community management software platform which received investment from Adelaide University and conducted research into student club finance patterns over two and a half years of operation.
“It is no surprise that Cyrus and Shyamsundar have been chosen among world leading entrepreneurs,” said Zrinka Tokic who heads up Adelaide University’s ThincLab and eChallenge.
“Every day at ThincLab we have seen them come in and put 100 per cent into what they’re building. Their work ethic, commitment and passion is outstanding, we are so proud of them.”
Photo: Cyrus Kelly and Shyamsundar Shrestha, founders of artificial intelligence startup markup.one which was accepted into Y Combinator’s Spring 2026 batch.
Media contacts:
Lara Pacillo, Media Officer, Adelaide University. Mobile: +61 403 659 154. Email: lara.pacillo@adelaide.edu.au
Sean McCullum, Vitalise Marketing. Mobile: +61 423 744 140. Email: sean@vitalisemarketing.com.au