# Hitoshi Harada

> Hitoshi Harada is the Co-Founder, CTO, and CPO of Alpaca Markets - the fintech unicorn building what he calls the 'Global Financial OS.' A Keio University-trained computer scientist who rewrote parts of PostgreSQL (Window Functions, PL/v8), Harada spent years building distributed databases at Greenplum before co-founding Alpaca in 2015 with Yoshi Yokokawa. The company, named after an alpaca they spotted on a Silicon Valley billionaire's estate, has grown to command 94% of the global tokenized US equities market, serve 300+ financial institutions across 40+ countries, and reach unicorn status at $1.15B valuation with a $150M Series D in January 2026.

- **Role:** Co-Founder, CTO & CPO at Alpaca Markets
- **Organizations:** Alpaca Markets, Greenplum (EMC), Pivotal Software, Forcia, Y Combinator W19
- **From:** Japan
- **Nationality:** Japanese
- **Education:** Computer Science / Financial Engineering, Keio University
- **Known for:** Co-founded Alpaca Markets, a fintech unicorn valued at $1.15B (Series D, January 2026), Authored Window Functions and CTEs for PostgreSQL versions 8.4-9.1, Created PL/v8 - JavaScript procedural language engine for PostgreSQL powered by V8

## Career timeline

- **2002** — Began career building data infrastructure for Japan's largest online travel agencies
- **2006** — Joined Forcia as CTO; led engineering for major Japanese data platforms
- **2011** — Joined Greenplum (later acquired by EMC) as Lead Architect; built parallel query, optimizer, replication, and distributed transaction systems
- **2012** — Moved to Pivotal Software after EMC acquisition; led core architecture for big data and distributed systems
- **2008-2012** — Major PostgreSQL contributor: authored Window Functions (8.4), CTEs, and PL/v8 JavaScript engine for PostgreSQL
- **2015** — Co-founded Alpaca Markets with Yoshi Yokokawa and Yuki Hayashi
- **2019** — Alpaca participated in Y Combinator W19 batch
- **2021** — Alpaca raised Series B ($50M) and Series B-2 ($50M); company valued at $475M
- **2024** — Alpaca completed self-clearing transition at DTCC (April 18); raised $50M from Tencent
- **2025** — Alpaca raised Series C ($52M)
- **2026** — Alpaca raised Series D ($150M) at $1.15B valuation - unicorn status achieved; investors include Citadel Securities, Drive Capital, BNP Paribas Opera Tech, MUFG

## Achievements

- Co-founded Alpaca Markets, a fintech unicorn valued at $1.15B (Series D, January 2026)
- Authored Window Functions and CTEs for PostgreSQL versions 8.4-9.1
- Created PL/v8 - JavaScript procedural language engine for PostgreSQL powered by V8
- Alpaca commands 94% of global tokenized US equities market share
- Led Alpaca to $100M+ annual recurring revenue with 300+ financial institution clients across 40+ countries
- Built Alpaca's Instant Tokenization Network (ITN) enabling share-to-wallet delivery in seconds
- Guided Alpaca's self-clearing transition at DTCC (April 2024) - a critical broker-dealer milestone
- Lead Architect at Greenplum, Silicon Valley's first parallel distributed database company
- Over 5 million accounts globally on Alpaca's platform
- Raised $288.9M+ in total funding including $150M Series D from Citadel Securities, Drive Capital, BNP Paribas

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Gave interview on Alpaca's vision for Global Financial OS and tokenized stocks strategy
- **2026-01** — Alpaca raised $150M Series D at $1.15B valuation, led by Drive Capital with Citadel Securities, BNP Paribas Opera Tech, and MUFG as key investors
- **2025-09** — Appeared on theCUBE + NYSE Wired: Crypto Trailblazers panel discussion
- **2025-04** — Alpaca raised $52M Series C funding
- **2024-04** — Alpaca completed self-clearing transition at DTCC - a landmark broker-dealer milestone

## Links

- Website: https://alpaca.markets
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hitoshi-harada-02b01425
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/umitanuki
- GitHub: https://github.com/umitanuki
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hitoshi.harada.3/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/hitoshi-harada
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-26