# Yoshi Yokokawa

> Yoshi Yokokawa is the co-founder and CEO of Alpaca, the San Mateo-based API-first brokerage infrastructure company that powers over 300 global fintech partners across 45 countries. A former Lehman Brothers analyst and forex trader turned repeat entrepreneur, Yoshi built Alpaca from a YC W19 startup into a $1.15 billion unicorn after raising a $150 million Series D in January 2026. His vision: a 'Global Financial OS' that makes investing borderless, accessible, and developer-native.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Alpaca
- **Organizations:** Alpaca, Ikkyo Technology, Y Combinator, Endeavor
- **From:** Japan
- **Nationality:** Japanese
- **Education:** Undergraduate, Keio University, Finance, Boston University, The Johns Hopkins University, High School, Peddie School, W19 Cohort, Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Built Alpaca from a YC W19 startup to a $1.15 billion unicorn with $288.93M total funding, Grew Alpaca to 9 million accounts served across 300+ fintech partners in 45 countries, Achieved $100M+ ARR and estimated 94% global market share in tokenized US equities

## Career timeline

- **2001-2005** — Studied at Keio University, Tokyo. As a teenager, worked for SoftBank packaging CD-ROMs for Masayoshi Son.
- **2005** — Joined Lehman Brothers as analyst in fixed income capital markets, specializing in securitization and structured products including subprime ABS.
- **2008** — Witnessed and worked through the global financial crisis at Lehman Brothers.
- **2008-2013** — Worked at Nomura Holdings as Forex Trader and Vice President of Structured Finance / Alternative Products.
- **2013** — Co-founded Ikkyo Technology, a computer vision / image recognition startup.
- **2017** — Ikkyo Technology acquired by Kyocera Communication Systems Co., Ltd. Co-founded Alpaca with Hitoshi Harada and Yuki Hayashi.
- **2018-2019** — Alpaca accepted into Y Combinator Winter 2019 cohort.
- **2020** — Launched Alpaca's commission-free stock trading API. Spoke at EPAT convocation.
- **2021** — Raised Series B funding. Expanded internationally.
- **2025** — Spoke at Milken Institute Asia Summit. Alpaca serves 5M+ accounts across 40+ countries.
- **2026-01** — Raised $150M Series D at $1.15B valuation, led by Drive Capital with Citadel Securities, BNP Paribas, MUFG, Kraken, and others. Named EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Bay Area finalist.
- **2026-05** — Spoke at Consensus Miami 2026 (CoinDesk). Alpaca reports API usage grew nearly 4x quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026.

## Achievements

- Built Alpaca from a YC W19 startup to a $1.15 billion unicorn with $288.93M total funding
- Grew Alpaca to 9 million accounts served across 300+ fintech partners in 45 countries
- Achieved $100M+ ARR and estimated 94% global market share in tokenized US equities
- Raised $150M Series D in January 2026 with investors including Citadel Securities, BNP Paribas, MUFG, and Kraken
- Successfully exited first startup (Ikkyo Technology) via acquisition by Kyocera Communication Systems
- Recognized as an Endeavor Entrepreneur
- Named finalist for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Bay Area Award
- Grew API usage nearly 4x quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026
- Expanded Alpaca's fixed income offering to include 500+ investment-grade/high-yield bonds and 229+ tradable T-bills
- Speaker at Milken Institute Asia Summit 2025 and Consensus Miami 2026

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Spoke at Consensus Miami 2026 (CoinDesk). Alpaca reports API usage grew nearly 4x quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026, with 30% monthly growth.
- **2026-01** — Alpaca raised $150M Series D at $1.15B valuation. Investors include Drive Capital (lead), Citadel Securities, BNP Paribas (Opera Tech Ventures), MUFG, Flat Capital, DRW Venture Capital, Kraken, and Bank Muscat.
- **2026-01** — Named finalist for EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2026 Bay Area Award.
- **2026-01** — Alpaca joined the Global Dollar Network for USDG access on Solana and launched new AI-friendly CLI and enhanced MCP Server.
- **2025-09** — Spoke at Milken Institute Asia Summit 2025.
- **2025-04** — Featured in multiple YouTube interviews including 'Why Global Japanese Entrepreneurs are Rare Today' and 'Building a 100% Remote Global Team.'

## Links

- Website: https://alpaca.markets
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yoshiyokokawa
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/iyoshyoshi
- GitHub: https://yoshi.github.io/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yoshi.yokokawa/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/alpacahq

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/yoshi-yokokawa
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-20