It means in theory they are letting people apply without an idea/company. YC tried this years ago, I believe they found it wasn't effective.
It's basically the "fund the team not the idea".
> YC tried this years ago, I believe they found it wasn't effective
Do you have any details of this?
They funded people who could build but had no ideas themselves. The entire batch was a dud. Not people who had basic ideas and wanted funding.
www.joinef.com [entrepreneur first] has been wildly successful with this model since 2012. They pool together founders pre-idea a couple times a year and have them start companies together in batches. If you get investment I believe the deal is 80,000 GBP for 10% - aggressive deal but worth it considering their network.
https://antler.co has a similar model
"If founding a technology company is a dream of yours—even if you don’t yet have a fully formed idea and haven’t yet quit your day job—we want to hear from you!"