# Michael Serbinis

> Michael Serbinis is a Toronto-based Canadian entrepreneur, engineer and investor, founder and CEO of League and co-founder and former CEO of Kobo. His career includes DocSpace, Critical Path and Zip2; he also chairs the board of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at League
- **Organizations:** League, Kobo, DocSpace, Critical Path, Zip2, Indigo Books & Music, Three Angels Capital, Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Vector Institute, MaRS Discovery District, Creative Destruction Lab, C100, Business Council of Canada
- **From:** Hamilton, Canada
- **Nationality:** Canadian
- **Education:** BSc, Engineering Physics, Queen’s University, MASc, Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto
- **Known for:** Co-founded Kobo and led it through its acquisition by Rakuten., Co-founded DocSpace and served as CTO of Critical Path., Won at the International Science and Engineering Fair with a high-school propulsion design; received awards from NASA and Rockwell Aerospace.

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Worked at Microsoft as a student and alongside Elon Musk at Zip2.
- **1997** — Co-founded DocSpace.
- **1999** — DocSpace was acquired by Critical Path; subsequently served as chief technology officer.
- **2001** — Completed his engineering master’s degree at the University of Toronto while working full time.
- **2006** — Joined Indigo as chief information officer.
- **2009** — Co-founded Kobo, spun out of Indigo in December.
- **2011** — Rakuten announced an agreement to acquire Kobo for US$315 million in cash.
- **2012** — Rakuten completed its acquisition of Kobo.
- **2014** — Left the Kobo CEO role and founded League.
- **2018** — A gift from Michael Serbinis and Laura Adams helped launch Perimeter’s undergraduate theoretical physics summer program.
- **2021** — Succeeded Mike Lazaridis as chair of Perimeter Institute’s board.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Kobo and led it through its acquisition by Rakuten.
- Co-founded DocSpace and served as CTO of Critical Path.
- Won at the International Science and Engineering Fair with a high-school propulsion design; received awards from NASA and Rockwell Aerospace.
- Received the Toronto Region Board of Trade’s Region Builder Award in 2020.
- Became chair of the Perimeter Institute board in 2021.

## Latest updates

- **2025-06** — Discussed engineering, entrepreneurship and lessons from earlier ventures on Mark MacLeod’s podcast, published June 19, 2025.
- **2025-01** — Published Stories From The First Ten - Year 10 on LinkedIn, reflecting on League’s first decade.

## Links

- Website: https://league.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mserbinis/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/mserbinis

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/michael-serbinis
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-21