# João de Paula

> João de Paula is a Brazilian founder and self-taught engineer who co-founded Glio and Origin before becoming co-founder and CEO of Mesmer. A law graduate of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, he took Glio through Y Combinator in 2013 and returned with Mesmer in 2025. Based in Berlin, he now builds engineering operations software with former colleagues Lucas Silva and Sergio Bergmann.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Mesmer
- **Organizations:** Mesmer, Origin, Glio, Y Combinator
- **Nationality:** Brazilian
- **Education:** Law, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Startup accelerator, Glio (Summer 2013), Y Combinator, Startup accelerator, Mesmer (Spring 2025), Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Co-founded Glio, recognized by Y Combinator as the first Latin American company to join its program., Co-founded Origin, which announced a R$290 million Series B in September 2021., Returned to Y Combinator with Mesmer in 2025.

## Career timeline

- **2011** — Graduated in law and co-founded Glio with Roberto Riccio; became its self-taught technical co-founder.
- **2012** — Glio publicly launched as a local reviews platform in April.
- **2013** — Glio joined Y Combinator Summer 2013 after four applications.
- **2015** — Glio moved to a cosmetics marketplace model.
- **2018** — Glio closed; co-founded Origin with Matthew Watson.
- **2020** — Origin launched its operation; hired Lucas Silva as an early engineering manager.
- **2021** — Origin announced a R$290 million Series B and served more than 100,000 employees.
- **2025** — Started Mesmer on January 1 as CEO with Lucas Silva and Sergio Bergmann; joined YC, then moved the team to Berlin and rebuilt the product.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Glio, recognized by Y Combinator as the first Latin American company to join its program.
- Co-founded Origin, which announced a R$290 million Series B in September 2021.
- Returned to Y Combinator with Mesmer in 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Described a customer conversation about AI coding gains being absorbed by downstream review and delivery bottlenecks.
- **2026-04** — Recapped Mesmer’s first year: YC, six-figure ARR, a seed round, relocation to Berlin and a product rebuild, all reported by de Paula.
- **2026-03** — Explained that Berlin made it possible to bring his preferred team together given US immigration constraints.
- **2026-01** — Announced project-level visibility linking engineering activity to business goals.
- **2026-01** — Reported fivefold growth over recent months while reflecting on starting Mesmer and assembling a familiar team.

## Links

- Website: https://joaodp.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaopdepaula/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/joaopdepaula

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/joao-de-paula
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-12