Hakuhodo launches HAKUHODO KEY3 in partnership with Astar Network
Will run web3 hackathons, create web3 services with clients
Tokyo—December 5, 2022—Hakuhodo Inc., a leading integrated marketing and innovation company
headquartered in Tokyo, is pleased to announce the launch of HAKUHODO KEY3 INC., a new venture
dedicated to developing web3 services with clients while planning and running web3 hackathons.
HAKUHODO KEY3 was established on December 5, 2022, in partnership with Sota Watanabe, CEO ofSingapore-based Stake Technologies Pte Ltd, developer of the Astar Network, a public blockchain originatingin Japan.

web3 is the next generation of the internet, making use of decentralized technologies such as the blockchain.
The Japanese government’s Digital Agency is championing the implementation of web3 as a key element of its
strategy for building a digital society. Several preconditions are essential if web3 is to become part of our daily
lives. It must offer services in a secure form via a public blockchain accessible to all. It must be easy to use.
And it must deliver a user experience that makes sei-katsu-sha* eager to try it.
Hakuhodo has already been working with Sota Watanabe on helping clients enter the web3 market byleveraging the Astar Network. Now the two have teamed up to establish HAKUHOD KEY3, which is in thebusiness of planning and running web3 hackathons. A hackathon is an event where IT engineers anddesigners form teams and, while pooling their ideas, compete to develop applications or services in a specificarea within a set timeframe. By so doing they support web3 service developers. Blockchain-sponsoredhackathons are increasingly becoming the primary means of developing services on web3. Yet fewhackathons originate in Japan. HAKUHODO KEY3 will, while drawing on Hakuhodo’s twin strengths of seikatsu-sha insight and creativity, organize hackathons all over the world in partnership with clients ready tosponsor them. These will be held on topics designed to enhance the client’s advantages and assets, cultivate
sei-katsu-sha demand, and boost developers’ motivation. In the process, the new venture will build a networkof connections with engineers worldwide and develop services that will be key to the web3 society.
HAKUHODO KEY3 aims to launch world-class web3 services from Japan. It will thus, alongside client firms,
help build a society where more sei-katsu-sha can participate in web3.
* “Sei-katsu-sha” is a term we use to describe people not simply as consumers, but as fully rounded individuals with their own
lifestyles, aspirations and dreams.

■ About HakuhodoFounded in 1895, Hakuhodo is an integrated marketing solutions company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. With offices in 20
countries and regions, and over 10,000 specialists working in Japan and around the world, Hakuhodo is the world’s second
largest advertising agency according to Ad Age’s “Agency Report 2022.” The company is the core agency of the Hakuhodo DYGroup.
Sei-katsu-sha insight is the foundation for Hakuhodo’s thinking, planning, and brand building. It reminds us that consumers are
more than shoppers performing an economic function. They have heartbeats. They are individuals with distinct lifestyles.
Hakuhodo introduced this term in the 1980s to emphasize its commitment to a comprehensive, 360-degree perspective onconsumers’ lives.
With sei-katsu-sha insight as its cornerstone, Hakuhodo combines creativity, integrative capabilities, and data and technology toplay a leading role in evolving companies’ marketing activities and generating innovation for the digitalized era. This enables thecompany to impact and provide value to sei-katsu-sha and society.
Renowned for its creativity, Hakuhodo has won the Grand Prix at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity twice, andwas named Network of the Year at ADFEST 2021.
To learn more, visit: www.hakuhodo-global.com

Media contacts:
Corporate Public Relations Divisionkoho.mail@hakuhodo.co.jpFurther Information▪ About HAKUHODO KEY3Name:HAKUHODO KEY3 INC.

Address:

Akasaka Biz Tower, 5-3-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 107-6322

Established:

December 5, 2022

Capital:

100 million yen

Services:

web3 hackathons, web3 promotions, web3 service development▪ About Sota Watanabe
Sota Watanabe is CEO of Stake Technologies Pte Ltd and the founder of Astar
Network, a blockchain originating in Japan. He also serves as Director of the Japan
Blockchain Association. He was listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list.

▪ About Astar Network
Astar Network is a public blockchain originating in Japan launched by Sota Watanabe. Selected as the world’s
third parachain on Polkadot, which aims to be core infrastructure for web3 by connecting different
blockchains, Astar Network is recognized as a promising initiative. It also creates an enabling environment forthe developers of web3 services through its app development support mechanism known as dApps Staking.
▪ About Stake Technologies Pte Ltd
Stake Technologies Pte Ltd is the developer of Astar Network/Shiden Network, a hub blockchain on thePolkadot/Kusama ecosystem equipped with EVM and Layer 2 solutions, as well as bridging functions withdifferent chains.
The company has created a ¥3.3 billion fund to provide both financial and technical support for projects andentities that contribute to Astar Network/Shiden Network.
Name:

Stake Technologies Pte Ltd.

Location:

105 Cecil Street #24-02, The Octagon, Singapore

Representative:

Sota Watanabe, CEO

Product URL:

https://astar.network/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/AstarNetwork