The young CEO of ``KEKKAI,'' an up-and-coming Web 3.0 security company, reveals the history of starting the company and new information about the business.
When my NFT was stolen, I decided to protect my users.
Please tell us how you became interested in the Web3.0 area and crypto assets.
To Ma: I entered Waseda University in 2019, and it all started when I took Professor Asahi's class there. I was acquainted with Mr. SUJI, who was the CEO of Mask Network, and he was giving a lecture on blockchain at the time, and I became interested in blockchain technology after hearing that. We currently have a very good relationship with Mask Network.
In 2017, I started my first company, which was different from what I have now. However, at that time, I had only heard the name blockchain, but had no idea how it worked. However, after taking a lecture at university, I became interested in blockchain the more I started learning about it on my own outside of the class, such as how blocks are actually connected and can be proven.
At the end of 2021, I decided to do blockchain consulting, and in 2022 I started a business with a service that allows you to write NFT and FT smart contracts with no code, and also allows you to adjust parameters.
At the time, I was helping companies expand into the Web 3.0 field, but I decided it was time to create my own product. However, when we actually tried to raise funds, we were not well-received by investors at all. Therefore, for a while, I worked as a consultant while organizing the direction of my company's products.
Please tell us what made you decide to start a business in the security field.
To Ma: One day, an NFT worth around 600,000 yen at the time was stolen. At that time, I felt a sense of helplessness, but at the same time I realized that we had to protect individual users like me, and that theft was a problem that needed to be solved.
At that time, I looked for a service to avoid fraud, but I couldn't find one. So we decided to do it ourselves. It was also great that we saw such a market environment as an opportunity.
After that, I started researching whether there was a way to avoid NFT theft. We started "KEKKAI" in January 2023, when the current product was completed and development was settled.
Japan is said to be relatively conservative in the international community, and has the characteristic of placing emphasis on security when starting services or new businesses. However, I felt that there were a lot of security issues.
New Web 3.0 service personnel are aware of the risk of asset theft, so this is where the need arises. Also, Japanese companies secure budgets for security from the beginning, and given the current situation, there are certainly opportunities.
