John S. Kim

John S. Kim is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sendbird, an in-app conversations platform based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Under his leadership, the Y Combinator-backed company has raised over $220 million from investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, reaching a valuation exceeding $1 billion. The API infrastructure currently powers chat, voice, and video communications for more than 320 million monthly active users globally. Previously, Kim served as the Founder and CEO of the social gaming startup Paprika Lab, which was acquired by Japanese gaming corporation GREE in 2012. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering from Seoul National University and is a former national professional esports champion. His current focus centers on scaling B2B enterprise software and investing as a General Partner in early-stage artificial intelligence and deep tech startups.