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Katya Shteyn

Co-founder, BioRender

Life Sciences SoftwareToronto

Katya Shteyn is a software engineer who co-founded BioRender in Toronto in 2017 with Shiz Aoki and Ryan Marien, and serves as its chief technology officer. She studied computer science at the University of Toronto and worked as an engineer at Dropbox before leaving to build BioRender's scientific figure platform.

Katya hasn’t spoken on a TechTO, TechVancouver or TechWaterloo stage. This profile is here because Katya co-founded BioRender, which appears in 2 talks in the archive.

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Quick answers

What did Katya Shteyn co-found?

BioRender, the Toronto company whose software scientists use to draw figures for papers and presentations. BioRender's own about page, checked September 2026, says Shiz Aoki partnered with Katya Shteyn and Ryan Marien to start the company in 2017.

What is her role at BioRender?

Co-founder and chief technology officer. The University of Toronto news story of August 21, 2018 described her as BioRender's chief technology officer, and her LinkedIn profile, checked September 2026, still lists her as co-founder and CTO at BioRender working on AI and scientific visuals.

What did she do before BioRender?

She was a software engineer at Dropbox in New York. The University of Toronto news story of August 21, 2018 reports that Aoki met her at a Y Combinator event for female founders and that she left Dropbox to join the company. The same story identifies her as a U of T computer science alumna.

Is BioRender a Y Combinator company?

Yes. Y Combinator's own company page for BioRender, checked September 2026, lists the company in the Winter 2018 batch, places it in Toronto, and names Katya Shteyn as one of three founders alongside Shiz Aoki and Ryan Marien.

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Maintained by TechTO · facts sourced and dated · last reviewed Sep 17, 2026