From Ethiopia to Silicon Valley: Better Auth’s Journey to Y Combinator Amid Visa Challenges











In a remarkable development for the Ethiopian tech ecosystem, Better Auth, a 7-month-old open-source authentication framework, has been selected for Y Combinator’s prestigious Spring 2025 Cohort. This accomplishment marks a significant milestone for the startup, securing $500,000 in seed funding and gaining entry into one of the world’s most competitive startup accelerator programs. With an acceptance rate of just 1%, Y Combinator has a long history of nurturing successful tech companies. To date, Y Combinator has funded over 5,000 companies including Stripe, Airbnb, DoorDash, Coinbase, Instacart and Dropbox. The combined valuation of Y Combinator companies is over $600B, with more than 90 companies valued at over $1B and Better Auth’s selection underscores the talent and innovation emerging from Ethiopia.

A Groundbreaking Solution in Authentication

Better Auth was created to address a fundamental challenge faced by developers worldwide: building robust, secure authentication systems from scratch. Traditionally, implementing security measures such as authentication, login mechanisms, and user verification can be a time-consuming and error-prone task for developers. Better Auth simplifies this process by offering a pre-built, open-source framework specifically designed for TypeScript, a widely used programming language.

By offering developers a tool to quickly integrate secure authentication without reinventing the wheel, Better Auth has the potential to save countless hours in development time. The product’s open-source nature allows it to be freely modified and extended, making it an attractive option for developers and tech companies looking to implement secure authentication systems efficiently.

The Founders: From Dropouts to Tech Innovators

Better Auth was founded by two ambitious and determined young Ethiopians, Bereket Engida and Kinfe Michael Tariku. Both founders come from backgrounds in computer science, but neither followed a traditional academic path to success. Bereket Engida, a computer science dropout, and Kinfe Michael Tariku, a third-year computer science student who withdrew from his studies, both decided to take the unconventional route to pursue their vision of creating a tech solution that could make a real difference.

Before founding Better Auth, Bereket developed Gebeya Search, a marketplace aggregator for telegram products, and Loglib, a web analytics tool. These past projects showcased Bereket’s talent for creating innovative solutions that meet the needs of businesses and developers. His journey is a testament to the power of resilience and vision, and it has played a significant role in shaping the success of Better Auth.

From Ethiopia to Global Recognition

Despite Better Auth being in its infancy, the team’s participation in Y Combinator’s Spring 2025 Cohort is a clear signal of the startup’s potential on the international stage. Y Combinator, known for its rigorous selection process, has an acceptance rate of just 1%, which makes being selected an extraordinary achievement. The $500,000 in seed funding will provide the necessary capital to scale the product and refine the business model.

However, the journey has not been without its challenges. Bereket Engida, one of the co-founders, faced a setback when his visa application to attend the Y Combinator interview was denied. With less than a week to travel to the US to attend the Y Combinator program, Bereket and Kinfe were left with no available slots for a visa interview until September 2025. This presents a critical issue, as the team is eager to travel to the US and begin their Y Combinator journey.

The US embassy is known to host several tech-entrepreneurship programs aimed at aspiring young innovators, and the team is hopeful that the embassy will take a closer look at this case. Given the significance of this opportunity, the hope is that the embassy will consider allowing the founders to travel to the US to attend the Y Combinator program, helping the startup unlock its full potential.

A Vision for the Future

The team at Better Auth is not just focused on building a product; they have their sights set on building a sustainable business model. As an open-source project, Better Auth provides value to the developer community by giving them a secure and easy-to-use authentication framework. However, the next step is to monetize the product and create a business that can scale globally. This will involve developing premium features, offering enterprise-level solutions, and exploring other revenue streams that align with their mission of improving security in the software development industry.

Better Auth’s success story is one of resilience, innovation, and a deep understanding of the developer community’s needs. By solving the challenge of secure authentication, they are not only making life easier for developers but also helping to improve the security of countless applications worldwide.

The Road Ahead: Y Combinator’s Spring 2025 Cohort

Looking forward, Better Auth is gearing up for an exciting journey with Y Combinator’s Spring 2025 Cohort. The funding will help the team fine-tune the product, scale operations, and explore potential partnerships. And the team will also be able to raise more funding from top U.S investors on the demo day. Their aim is to continue building a business that not only offers a great product but also has a lasting impact on the global developer community.

With the backing of Y Combinator, Better Auth has the opportunity to grow beyond its initial open-source framework, providing a more comprehensive suite of developer tools and security solutions. Their journey from Ethiopia to the international stage is a testament to the power of innovation, determination, and the global nature of the tech industry.

In a world where security is becoming more critical by the day, Better Auth’s mission to make authentication easier and more secure could very well be the next big success story in the global tech scene.