{"id":"d9c75a03-01ee-446b-b3b5-7177673eaa48","slug":"philip-johnston","name":"Philip Johnston","bioBrief":"British entrepreneur and co-founder/CEO of [Starcloud](/companies/starcloud), developing orbital data centers for AI compute. Previously co-founded Opontia (acquired by Perfection in 2023) and worked as an algorithmic trader at BNP Paribas and an associate at McKinsey & Company. Holds degrees from Columbia, Wharton, and Harvard Kennedy School. Starcloud became Y Combinator's fastest unicorn in March 2026 at a $1.1B valuation.","priorExits":null,"nationality":"British","verificationPosture":"verified","aliases":[],"sources":[{"url":"https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/starcloud","title":"Starcloud - Y Combinator","sourceName":"Y Combinator"},{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Johnston_(entrepreneur)","title":"Philip Johnston (entrepreneur) - Wikipedia","sourceName":"Wikipedia"},{"url":"https://observer.com/2026/03/starcloud-ceo-philip-johnston-nvidia-space-data-center/","title":"Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston on Putting First Data Center in Space","sourceName":"Observer"}],"reviewStatus":"reviewed","createdAt":"2026-08-08T20:25:18.491Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-10T07:56:11.526Z","educations":[],"companyRoles":[{"id":"7bc981bc-14ca-40ac-a796-60d08c172d1d","personId":"d9c75a03-01ee-446b-b3b5-7177673eaa48","companyId":"8bd99611-a452-4406-8fac-0594fac675d2","role":"ceo","roleTitle":"CEO & Co-founder","startDate":null,"endDate":null,"currentRole":true,"roleBasis":"verified_secondary","displayOrder":null,"createdAt":"2026-08-08T20:25:19.257Z","company":{"slug":"starcloud","name":"Starcloud"}}],"boardRoles":[],"investorRoles":[],"foundings":[{"id":"19fa1fb0-02b3-4810-8ef6-888936202862","personId":"d9c75a03-01ee-446b-b3b5-7177673eaa48","companyId":"8bd99611-a452-4406-8fac-0594fac675d2","foundingDate":null,"cofounderStatus":null,"stillAtCompany":true,"createdAt":"2026-08-10T07:56:12.666Z","company":{"slug":"starcloud","name":"Starcloud"}}]}