As early investors of AirBNB and Dropbox, YC is fairly well known across in the financial circles and they don't have any problem getting outside investments. In fact, I believe they have so much money coming in that they can afford all those new explorations (YC continuity, YC fellowships, YC Research, and so on).
To prove that they are very well known, suffice to say that the French news [0] spoke about them back in 2012.
To prove that they are very well known, suffice to say that the French news [0] spoke about them back in 2012.
[0] http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2012/08/24/y-combinat... (In French, to summarize it says YC is basically a prestigious incubator with a great portfolio).