# Marcelo Cortes

> Marcelo Cortes is the Brazilian-born co-founder and Chief Architect of Faire, the wholesale marketplace for independent retailers and brands. His path runs from his parents' video shop outside Sao Jose dos Campos to computer science at the University of Waterloo, engineering roles at Google and Square, and the founding of Faire with former Square colleagues. After scaling Faire's technical organization to more than 300 engineers, he moved from CTO to Chief Architect in 2024 and now focuses on the systems and AI tools intended to make inventory buying less risky without flattening the judgment that gives an independent shop its identity.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Chief Architect at Faire
- **Organizations:** Faire, Square, Google, University of Waterloo, Maropost
- **Nationality:** Brazilian
- **Education:** Computer Science, University of Waterloo
- **Known for:** Co-founded Faire in Y Combinator's Winter 2017 cohort., Established Faire's Canadian headquarters in Kitchener-Waterloo., Helped scale Faire's technical organization to more than 300 engineers across Canada, the United States, Brazil and the United Kingdom.

## Career timeline

- **Childhood** — Discovered computing on an Intel 286 in his parents' video rental store outside Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, and later attended a high school offering information technology courses.
- **University** — Moved to Canada and studied computer science at the University of Waterloo.
- **2010-2012** — Worked as a senior software engineer at Google on Hangouts, Google+ and other projects.
- **2013-2016** — Worked as a staff software engineer at Square, helping build Square Cash from a prototype into a large-scale product, and met the colleagues who would become his Faire co-founders.
- **2017** — Launched Faire with Max Rhodes, Jeff Kolovson and Daniele Perito in Y Combinator's Winter 2017 cohort.
- **2019** — Helped establish Faire's Canadian engineering headquarters in Kitchener-Waterloo.
- **2023** — Spoke at Web Summit Rio about Faire's Brazilian roots, engineering expansion and early use of generative AI in retail search.
- **2024** — Moved from Chief Technology Officer to Chief Architect as Thuan Pham joined Faire as CTO; remained on the executive team and shifted toward hands-on technical innovation.
- **2025** — Discussed Faire's engineering culture and AI work during Toronto Tech Week and joined Maropost's advisory board.
- **2026** — At HumanX, argued that AI should amplify retailers' taste and storytelling, and said Faire's matching improvements had reduced return rates from about 30% to single digits.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Faire in Y Combinator's Winter 2017 cohort.
- Established Faire's Canadian headquarters in Kitchener-Waterloo.
- Helped scale Faire's technical organization to more than 300 engineers across Canada, the United States, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
- As a Square staff engineer, helped build Square Cash from a prototype into a product downloaded more than 30 million times by 2019.
- Built Faire's engineering presence in Brazil, which grew 600% to nearly 40 employees during the year preceding May 2023.
- Serves as a member of Faire's executive team and, as of late 2025, on Maropost's advisory board.

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Spoke at HumanX on AI-powered retail, reporting that Faire's return rates had moved from roughly 30% at launch to single digits and arguing that AI should amplify rather than replace human taste.
- **2025-11** — Announced the Canadian launch of Faire Promoted Listings, describing it as AI-powered automatic targeting for independent brands.
- **2025-07** — Joined Faire CTO Thuan Pham for a Toronto Tech Week discussion on AI, engineering culture and the growth of Faire's Canadian teams.
- **2025-03** — Published reflections on becoming Chief Architect, scaling Faire's engineering organization and the potential of AI to support independent retailers.

## Links

- Website: https://www.faire.com/news/about
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcelo-cortes-b34317/
- GitHub: https://github.com/mescortes

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/marcelo-cortes
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26