Ryo Ishizuka
Mentor @ Techstars
San Francisco, United States
Ryo Ishizuka is a seed investor at Techstars in San Francisco focused on SNS and AgTech. Ryo Ishizuka is the co-founder and CEO of Mercari, a hassle-free peer-to-peer mobile marketplace app. After founding the company in Japan and following its successful launch, Ryo leads Mercari's international expansion as the company grows globally. Prior to founding Mercari, Ryo was the Chief Architect at RockYou, a Silicon Valley startupbacked by Sequoia. At RockYou, he was responsible for developing the core infrastructures to support its rapidly growing traffic, serving more than 20 billion PVs per month. He later served as COO at RockYou Asia to lead its Asian expansion. Born in Japan and raised in the US, Ryo has spent his life constantly moving and building bridges between the two countries.
- Total investments:
- 7
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 14%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Ryo Ishizuka invests in
Stages Ryo Ishizuka invests in
Countries Ryo Ishizuka invests in
Round sizes
Round size
- Seed
- $700k–$33M
- Series A
- $6.8M–$10M
Investment Focus
Industry
- SNS 1 (14%)
- AgTech 1 (14%)
- Beauty 1 (14%)
- Content 1 (14%)
- Organic 1 (14%)
Stage
- Seed 4 (57%)
- Series A 3 (43%)
Country
- United States 4 (57%)
- Japan 3 (43%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
Sagri
|
Sagri is developing agriculture software for experienced farmers. | $6.8M / Series A / Aug 08, 2024 | |
Omneky
|
Omneky is an AI-agentic advertising platform that generates and orchestrates personalized omni-channel ad campaigns. By analyzing cross-channel marketing data from platforms like Meta, Google, TikTok, Reddit and LinkedIn, Omneky identifies the specific design elements and messaging that drive conversions. It then leverages generative AI to quicklyproduce and launch highly tailored image and video ads across various advertising channels, helping brands optimize their campaigns, reduce creative fatigue, and ultimately increase return on ad spend. | $7M / Seed / Nov 15, 2022 | |
Flyp
|
Flyp raised a $15 Million to put an end to the problem of landfill waste by using AI to resell it through millions of online sellers.But, why? Because the government won’t fix it, and big corporations won’t fix it, and $1 donations at checkout won’t fix it. So we chose to arm the people to fix it. We’re doing it by empowering millions of everydaypeople, stay at home moms, college students, and small entrepreneurs, to fix it. We are providing them with the technology and capital needed to save more than $200 Billion worth of used goods from being thrown into landfills every year and flipping this waste into profit. Turning it into cash, creating jobs, and flourishing an economy of people-owned sustainable businesses.The technology we’re building at Flyp: Flyp developed two core products aimed at empowering an army of stay at home resellers to effectively resell and monetize millions of items that would have ended up in landfill otherwise: 1) AI driven platform to monetize used clothes: Flyp developed the first and only platform that allows individual consumers and businesses to offload their pre owned items to online resellers who will sell it for them on marketplace like eBay, Poshmark, Facebook and others for a commission. Think of Thredup or TheRealReal, but instead of a centralized company doing the selling, it’s done by a network of thousands of small, stay-at-home online resellers. The key to this platform is Flyp’s AI-enabled matching technology which uses Pro Seller’s historical sales data to algorithmically match inventory with the Pro Seller who is the best fit to resell it. This unprecedented matchmaking has already succeeded in moving over 160 metric tons worth millions of dollars that would have ended in landfills, and is growing quickly at a 400% annual growth rate. 2) Automation platform to give small sellers the power of big retailers: In order to process millions of items successfully, Flyp had to invest in empowering the network of individual resellers by bringing to them the workflow automation capabilities that had only been available to big e-commerce players at exorbitant prices. This is why Flyp developed a fully free automation suite that saves resellers 90% of the time they used to put into inventory management and sales management across channels. This suite of tools has succeeded in becoming the new operating system for resellers, so much so that 85% of its users are daily active users making thousands of sales a day on auto-pilot.The impact of Flyp: Flyp’s impact is not a virtue signaling side effect, Flyp’s impact is fully visible and tangible in every transaction that occurs on the platform: 1) Environmental impact: With the fashion industry’s landfill waste contributing to more than 10% of global carbon emissions, being able to save millions of items from ending up in landfills and recirculating them in the market is Flyp’s core business model and impact lever at the same time. 2) Social and economic impact: While most are used to environmentally friendly alternatives being more costly than the polluting ones, Flyp has actually always held the belief that “sustainability can pay back in cash”. And on our mission to save the environment, we are creating and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs for small stay-at-home entrepreneurs around the country, enabling them to generate millions of dollars in income and allowing them to sustain themselves and their families and creating a massive amount of new jobs in sustainability. We are also providing millions of shoppers with affordable items at a massive discount from retail, and allowing them to participate in the circular economy and reducing their own carbon footprint all while making very tangible economic savings.Flyp’s vision for the future and why it matters: At Flyp, we believe that one of the biggest hidden problems we face as a consumerist society is the immense waste generated from our purchases. This enormous waste is not only catastrophic to the environment, but it also represents a completely wasted economic value that is robbing consumers and businesses alike from recuperating sizable portions of the cost of the goods they had already paid for, simply due to a failure in logistics. The future we’re already creating at Flyp is one where all this massive waste, is turned into prosperous jobs for hundreds of thousands of small stay-at-home entrepreneurs, who in the process of reselling what would otherwise have gone to landfills, will create a massive circular economic cycle benefiting consumers, businesses and the environment. | $10M / Series A / Apr 28, 2022 | |
.sfty
|
Teatis is a plant-based sugar-blocking superfood powder for diabetic consumers. | $700K / Seed / Sep 09, 2021 | |
HOMMA
|
HOMMA is a start-up tech home builder that specializes in designing modern homes that improve the living experience. The team at HOMMA is composed of skilled professionals, including home builders, architects, designers, and engineers, all working to create living spaces that are aesthetically pleasing and sustainable. | $8M / Series A / May 14, 2021 | |
Financier
|
Financier provides Japan's only Web3 platform aimed at realizing a creator economy that supports the challenges of 1 billion people. The platform enables creators to issue tokens, fostering community engagement and new economic models. By leveraging blockchain technology, it empowers individuals to monetize their influence and buildsustainable communities. | $2.2M / Seed / Apr 30, 2020 | |
RABO
|
RABO is a Cat-Tech Company that "watches cat life with technology. | Seed / Apr 22, 2019 |
Co-Investors
About Techstars
Techstars provides a global platform for early-stage investment and innovation through programs that support startup growth and corporate collaboration. Its services include accelerator programs, startup education initiatives, venture capital funding, and corporate innovation partnerships.The Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Program offerssupport for startups, while Techstars Startup Programs focus on entrepreneurial education and community building. The Techstars Venture Capital Fund invests in emerging companies, and its Corporate Innovation Partnerships help established brands develop new products and services through collaboration with startups.
Techstars Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Andrew Cleland
Chief Investment Officer
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Artur Hasselbach
Mentor
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Beata Puncevic
Chief Technology Officer
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Ben Liao
Managing Director
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Bob Moczydlowsky
Managing Director & Founder, Techstars Music
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FAQ
What does Ryo Ishizuka invest in?
Ryo Ishizuka invests primarily in SNS, AgTech and Beauty startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 7 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
What is Ryo Ishizuka's check size?
Ryo Ishizuka typically joins rounds of $700k–$33M at Seed and $6.8M–$10M at Series A. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Ryo Ishizuka participates in.
When did Ryo Ishizuka last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Ryo Ishizuka closed in Aug 2024. Shizune tracks 7 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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