The controversy surrounding Y Combinator-backed compliance startup Delve has intensified this week with new allegations from the anonymous whistleblower 'DeepDelver'. The source claims Delve took an open-source tool from another company, Sim.ai, and presented it as its own proprietary product called 'Pathways' to a prospective client.
DeepDelver, who was the prospect in question, recognised the tool as being based on Sim.ai's SimStudio. When questioned, Delve's team allegedly claimed they had built it themselves. The whistleblower subsequently provided evidence suggesting 'Pathways' was a modified copy, or fork, of SimStudio, which would constitute a violation of the Apache software licence requiring credit to the original developer.
Founder Confirms No Agreement
Sim.ai's founder and CEO, Emir Karabeg, confirmed to TechCrunch that Delve had no licence agreement with his company. "We knew they planned to use Sim for something and later tried unsuccessfully to sell them an agreement," Karabeg stated. "I didn’t realise they were going to sell it out of the box as a standalone solution."
Adding a layer of complexity, Karabeg revealed that Sim.ai was actually a paying customer of Delve's services, a not uncommon practice among Y Combinator alumni. This means Sim.ai was financially supporting the very company allegedly using its intellectual property without permission.
Silence and Scrubbed Content
Karabeg, who had expressed sympathy for Delve after the initial whistleblower allegations last week, said communication has since ceased. "I was consoling my friends at Delve after the first post was released last week, but since I found out about this news we haven’t been in contact," he said.
Delve has not responded to requests for comment, and the media inquiries address on its website is non-functional. Furthermore, mentions of the 'Pathways' tool, along with other pages on Delve's website, appear to have been removed.
Broader Fallout and Investor Scrutiny
The new allegations have sparked significant outcry on social media platform X, where the topic has trended. DeepDelver also claims these actions preceded Delve's $32 million Series A funding round led by Insight Partners in 2025.
TechCrunch has reached out to Insight Partners for comment on its due diligence process. Notably, a 2025 blog post from the venture capital firm explaining its investment in Delve was temporarily unavailable on its website, and a related LinkedIn post remains unpublished.
The situation presents a stark irony: a startup selling compliance solutions is itself accused of significant compliance failures, first regarding customer data and auditing practices, and now concerning software licensing from a fellow YC graduate and customer.