About
Yuki Sato is an engineer and startup founder serving as Co-founder & CEO at obniz Inc., a Tokyo company that builds IoT hardware cloud services. He became an entrepreneur while studying at Waseda University's Faculty of Creative Science and Engineering, where he co-developed the iPhone app papelook, which was named in the App Store Best of 2012 and passed 10 million downloads. He then worked as an engineer at Spotlight Inc. on beacon devices and iPhone apps before founding CambrianRobotics in 2014 with Kohei Kido; the company was renamed obniz in 2021. Yuki brings an engineer-founder perspective on IoT product development, connecting hardware to the cloud, consumer app building, and running a deep-tech startup in Japan. The role provides direct exposure to how connected devices are designed, deployed and maintained across industries, and to building a venture-backed hardware and software company from the ground up. Yuki is particularly relevant to conversations around IoT and connected hardware, moving from prototype to product, technical founder leadership, and building developer-focused platforms.