Alpaca’s Vision for the “AWS of Finance” | CEO Yoshi Yokokawa on Building the Next Generation of Financial Infrastructure

Alpaca, a US-based financial startup founded by Japanese entrepreneurs, aims to revolutionize the securities infrastructure space by providing API-based brokerage services, positioning itself as the "AWS of finance." After raising $150 million USD in a Series D funding round, the company achieved unicorn status with a valuation of $1.15 billion USD. Alpaca’s platform supports over 10 million brokerage accounts across 40 countries, enabling financial institutions and fintech companies to integrate securities trading functions seamlessly. Unlike traditional financial institutions, Alpaca focuses on middle and back-office operations, offering a streamlined API connectivity experience that reduces the complexity and time required to implement securities functionalities. The company has expanded its strategic network by securing investments from diverse global financial players and is poised for further growth with plans to transition into on-chain financial systems, challenging legacy custodians in a market worth approximately $350 trillion. Alpaca’s unique position and developer-first philosophy have allowed it to maintain rapid growth, doubling its revenue annually over the past three years, and it continues to innovate in tokenization and blockchain-based financial infrastructure.