# Yo Shibata

> Yo Shibata is the co-founder and CEO of Tailor, a headless, composable ERP company serving business operations in the United States and Japan. A University of Tokyo economics graduate and former McKinsey consultant, he founded the businesses behind Shoppi and Smapo, co-founded Tokyo Founders Fund and Funds, and has described Tailor as a long-term commitment to making software creation more accessible.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Tailor
- **Organizations:** Tailor, Tokyo Founders Fund, Funds (formerly CloudPort), Spotlight, Code Start, McKinsey & Company, Rakuten
- **Education:** Economics graduate, The University of Tokyo
- **Known for:** Founded Code Start/Shoppi, acquired by IMJ., Founded Spotlight/Smapo, acquired by Rakuten in October 2013., Co-founded Tokyo Founders Fund in 2015.

## Career timeline

- **2005** — Started a student business that evolved toward web marketing and SEO.
- **2007** — Graduated from the University of Tokyo and joined McKinsey & Company.
- **2010–2011** — Founded Code Start, maker of the Shoppi barcode price-comparison app; the business was acquired by IMJ.
- **2011** — Founded Spotlight, the company behind Smapo.
- **2013** — Rakuten acquired Spotlight in October; Shibata continued leading the subsidiary.
- **2015** — Left Spotlight and co-founded Tokyo Founders Fund with seven other entrepreneurs.
- **2016** — Co-founded CloudPort, now Funds, in November.
- **2021** — Co-founded Tailor with CTO Misato Takahashi.
- **2022** — Tailor joined Y Combinator Summer 2022.
- **2025** — Tailor introduced Omakase and completed a $37 million Series A.
- **2026** — Announced Tailor’s partnership with SoftLedger in September.

## Achievements

- Founded Code Start/Shoppi, acquired by IMJ.
- Founded Spotlight/Smapo, acquired by Rakuten in October 2013.
- Co-founded Tokyo Founders Fund in 2015.
- Co-founded CloudPort, now Funds, in 2016.
- Led Tailor into Y Combinator’s Summer 2022 batch.
- Led Tailor through its $37 million Series A close announced in November 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Announced an operations-and-accounting partnership with SoftLedger; the author index dates the post September 23, 2026.
- **2026-05** — Tailor announced Shibata as moderator for a June 2 Big Picture conversation with Norihiro Itano.
- **2025-11** — Announced the final Series A close, bringing the round to $37 million.

## Links

- Website: https://www.tailor.tech/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yoyoshibata
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/yoyoshibata

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/yo-shibata
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23