Japan is thought to be lagging behind the rest of the world in incubating innovative startups, but a Japanese entrepreneur hopes to change that perception by launching a cybersecurity company born during his time studying abroad. I’m doing it.
In 2012, 44-year-old Mitsuo Okada founded Capy Inc. and is currently the CEO of the company. His experience allows him to provide tips to other Japanese tech startups on how to be successful.
Born in Kyoto, Okada studied abroad in Canada in high school before moving to Oregon State University in the United States, where he got his first computer.
“I was inspired by the students around me who were starting new tech businesses and trying to change the world,” Okada recalls.
A screenshot shows Capy Inc. founder Mitsuo Okada during an online interview with Kyodo News in August 2022. (Joint)
Okada said he was particularly interested in cybersecurity because U.S. information technology companies such as Google, which was growing rapidly around 2000, “looked really cool.”
After graduating from OSU, Okada returned to Japan to continue his studies. Because the cost of her higher education was relatively low. He got his Ph.D. He completed a doctoral course at Kyoto University Graduate School of Informatics, Department of Information Science.
While in graduate school, engaged in research related to cryptography related to cybersecurity, and actively participated in various events and international conferences related to the promotion of startups in the United States. He won numerous awards for his skills and original ideas, which led to the founding of Capy.
The company offers easy-to-use authentication tools to verify that a human is trying to log into a website. To do this, the user has to put together the smaller pieces of the image like a jigsaw puzzle.
Most people are familiar with CAPTCHA authentication, which requires users to identify a distorted series of letters or numbers, or to select a particular image from a photograph, but many find the images difficult to decipher. , I feel it takes a long time to process.
Okada developed the idea because, unlike other ideas, the approach is intuitive. He said that puzzles are “instantly understood” by anyone, anywhere.
An authentication tool from Capy Inc. Use a jigsaw to confirm that a human is trying to log into her website. (Provided by Capy Inc.) (Joint)
Capy’s tools are used by companies in Japan, including some of Japan’s leading telecommunications service providers, and around the world.
Okada aims to develop a complete cybersecurity service that uses artificial intelligence to learn from various cyberattacks. AI analyzes vulnerabilities and suggests countermeasures for small businesses that can’t afford to hire cybersecurity experts. He added that the idea is to make the service available at “a very transparent price.”
For startup founders who want to expand their business in the United States, “It’s important to build a wide network of contacts through participation in local events,” said Okada, who now lives in New York.
Regarding the Japanese government’s support for startups, he said, “It is effective to subsidize the cost of studying abroad and to provide education so that students can speak English.”
In a post for students on Kyoto University’s alumni forum, Okada explains the advantages of his company’s technology and its potential for global application due to the ubiquity of the puzzle concept.
He encourages students to advocate for the future by creating innovations that can be applied in the real world.
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