About
Merlin spent four years as Chief Product Officer at Sequence, an order-to-cash platform, before founding Rex. He previously held a product management role at Tessian and studied Industrial Engineering at Cambridge and Product Design at Glasgow.
Founder at RexYC S26
Intro paths
YC
Merlin went through Y Combinator (Summer 2026) — any YC alum in your network can reach them through the YC community.
GP
Their group partner at YC was Vivian Midha Shen — the partner who ran Rex's batch and knows the company first-hand.
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In turn, Merlin can intro founders to Rex's investors below.
Rex's investors · 2
Co-founders at Rex
LB
Lewis BlackwoodFounder
Experience
- Rex.incCo-founder & CEOcurrent2026 — present
- SequenceCPO (AR & Quote to cash)2025Region London, Vereinigtes Königreich
- SequenceHead of Product (AR & Quote to cash)2022 — 2025Grande Londra
- TessianProduct Manager (Enterprise AI)2019 — 2022Region London, Vereinigtes Königreich
- Legal SphereProduct Manager2018 — 2019Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
- Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of CambridgeIndustrial Consultant2017 — 2018Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Re-system.coFounder2016 — 2018Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Coco ChocolatierProject Manager2017Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- LEAP TechnologyVenture Competition2016Copenhagen, Capital Region, Denmark
- Allianz InsuranceIntern2012 — 2013Shanghai City, China
Skills & more
Artificial Intelligence (AI)Finance OperationsEnterprise Resource Planning (ERP)Accounts Receivable (AR)Order to CashTessian Architect6Engineering18Product Design33Project Management6Concept Development11CAD8Industrial Design4
+12 more
Social MediaPhotographyDesign ManagementRapid PrototypingOperations ManagementGraphic DesignProduct DevelopmentUser ExperienceSupply Chain ManagementCAD/CAMPhotoshopSolidWorksLanguages English · German
- Mastering Product Management — Reforge
- Professional Scrum Master — Scrum.org
- Data Science & Machine Learning in Python (14 Courses, 5h each) — DataCamp
- Machine Learning - Stanford University - Coursera online course — Coursera
From Merlin's professional profile.
Frequently asked questions
- Who is Merlin Kafka?
- Merlin spent four years as Chief Product Officer at Sequence, an order-to-cash platform, before founding Rex. He previously held a product management role at Tessian and studied Industrial Engineering at Cambridge and Product Design at Glasgow.
- Where does Merlin Kafka work?
- Merlin Kafka is Founder of Rex.
- What companies did Merlin Kafka found?
- Merlin Kafka founded Rex.
- Where did Merlin Kafka go to school?
- Merlin Kafka studied at University of Cambridge (Masters, Industrial Systems); Nanyang Technological University Singapore (Exchange semester, Product Development); DTU - Technical University of Denmark (Exchange semester, Product Development).
Founder mafias
Y Combinator mafia8,773
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Sam AltmanPresidentFounded Tools for Humanity +3Jessica LivingstonCo-founderFounded Y CombinatorAlexis OhanianYC Summer 2005Founded RedditFred EhrsamYC Summer 2012Founded Nudge +1Matt HuangYC Winter 2011Founded HotspotsTrae StephensYC Winter 2022Founded Pursuit +1
+ 8,766 more
University of Cambridge mafia256
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Stewart ButterfieldMPhilFounded Flickr +1Demis HassabisBAFounded Google Deepmind +2Immad AkhundMaster of Arts (M.A.)Founded Clickpass +2Inaki BerenguerPhDFounded InfiniteWatch +2Harish AgarwalMaster of Philosophy - MPhilFounded Nori +2Nikola MrkšićDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)Founded Poly +2
+ 249 more
Nanyang Technological University Singapore mafia42
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Mike MoradiExecutive EducationFounded Southwest Nanotechnologies +1ZJ LinBachelor of EngineeringFounded Landeed +1Walter PintorMaster's DegreeFounded Syncware +1Stefan Seltz-AxmacherBusinessFounded Polymath Robotics +1Toni RosinolVisiting StudentFounded Stack AI +1Avishek KumarMaster of Science (M.Sc.)Founded VFlowTech +1
+ 35 more
DTU - Technical University of Denmark mafia27
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Marianne HyltoftEngineer and Business AdministrationFounded FlextribeTorsten KolindMScFounded YouNoodleTroels SchönfeldtDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)Founded Seaborg TechnologiesLuis Jimenez-TuñonMaster of Science in Telecommunications EngineeringFounded Rovial SpaceJes BroengM.Sc.Founded NorlaseAlexander AghassipourMasterFounded Zendesk
+ 20 more
Tessian mafia5
Also came through, then founded or led a company.
Same school
Also attended University of Cambridge893
Stewart ButterfieldCo-founder of Slack and FlickrDemis HassabisCo-founder & CEO of Google DeepMindNiko BonatsosVerdict Capital founder and pre-consensus investor formerly at General CatalystGeorgia StevensonInvestor at Index VenturesHannah SealInvestor at Index VenturesLeah von SiemensPartner at Manta Ray Ventures
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+ 887 more
Also attended Nanyang Technological University Singapore164
Angela ToyPartner & COO at Golden Gate VenturesKarim GillaniGeneral Partner at Luge CapitalMike MoradiGeneral Partner at Cortado VenturesGenping LiuGeneral Partner at Vertex Ventures Sea Management Pte. Ltd.Kelven LamInvestment Director - Water at Emerald Technology Ventures AgGautam GuptaCo-Founder & Venture Partner at BA Capital
:format(webp)/f/174198/3860x2650/379d5fb70e/steel-blue-genping-liu.png)
+ 158 more
Also attended DTU - Technical University of Denmark66
Lars PedersenPartner, Chief Financial Officer at Redpoint VenturesClaus AnderssonGeneral Partner at Sunstone CapitalKartik KashyapStudent Assistant at Sunstone CapitalChris PorsgaardPartner at SEED Capital DenmarkOtto SilvennoinenAsset Manager, Real Estate at Innovestor VenturesThomas NagyOperational Partner at Astanor Ventures
+ 60 more
Also attended University of Strathclyde60
ThomasGeneral Partner at Acadian Ventures Management, LlcRob DesboroughGeneral Partner and Chair of Seraphim Space Accelerator at Seraphim SpaceRupert LyleInvestment Director at Future Planet CapitalRoss StrachanInvestor at Adara VenturesYoussef HounatAdvisor at Curiosity VCAngus ConroyInvestor at Scottish Equity Partners
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+ 54 more
Shared employers
Also worked at Rex.inc1
Also worked at Tessian15
Luciana LixandruPartner at Sequoia CapitalJamie MontgomeryCo-Founder & Managing Partner at March Capital PartnersTom SheridanVP on RTP Global's US teamPhilipp KobusManaging Partner at FraserSuranga ChandratillakePartner at Balderton CapitalScott SageCo-Founder and Partner at Crane Venture Partners
+ 9 more
