Our Team
Last updated
Last updated
Naohito Yoshida：Founder & CEO With a desire to bring happiness to game players around the world and a conviction in the transformative power of blockchain technology, he is striving to create social game platforms where players not only use money, but are able to transform that money into assets, as well. A serial entrepreneur, Yoshida established three listed companies before founding DEA in 2018.
Kozo Yamada：Founder & Co-CEO Born in 1977, after graduating from the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Law, he joined TV Tokyo in 2002. In the production department, he was in charge of program production, focusing on music programs and variety shows. Specialized in planning projects in conjunction with digital media. In 2018, he became independent and engaged in producing all aspects of entertainment. Founded DEA in Singapore in the same year, operating NFT gaming platform business PlayMining. In January 2022, he led the first listing of Play to Earn token "DEAPcoin (DEP)" in Japan. Also widely recognized as an expert in NFT games and has been publishing in NOTE and other media.
Shinya Kiriu：COO Shinya Kiriu oversees strategy development, capital procurement and back-office operations as the person in charge of the management planning and corporate divisions. He works tirelessly in the hope of making DEA’s games and services loved by users around the world. After obtaining an MS at Tokyo University’s Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, Kiriu worked at a domestic material manufacturer involved in technology development and production management and then at a management consultancy supporting the growth of start-ups and the transformation of large companies. A certified math geek, Kiriu was a Japan National Team representative finalist for the International Mathematical Olympiad in 2001.
Prior to joining DEA, he was a senior controller in the Finance department of Goldman Sachs Japan. During his 13 years at Goldman Sachs, he was responsible for risk management and accounting covering various businesses including Investment Banking, Asset Management, and Trading. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs he was an equity derivatives product controller at Dresdner Kleinwort. He began his career as a consultant at Nippon Steel Solutions, working on systems development projects for Asian financial institutions. He joined the DEA in August 2022 and was appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Hideaki Kurihara：CMO After working as a marketing planner at Hakuhodo, he joined the company after engaging in management consulting for large companies and management support for investers at Dream Incubator. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo.
Daichi Namikawa：CTO
Engaged in the development of new services using cutting-edge research technology and the development of new research themes at NTT Laboratories. He has also planned and developed many other services that fuse entertainment and IT, including the management of an idol and the development of a VR application that enables remote control of an underwater drone. He joined this project as CTO in 2022. He holds a B.S. in Astronomy from Kagoshima University and a Ph. D. without dissertation in the department of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Graduate School of Engineering from the University of Tokyo.
Kazutaka Okubo：Auditor Okubo is the CEO of Okubo Associates Co., Ltd. (CPA/CFE). He graduated from Keio University Faculty of Law. He is the former Senior Managing Director of EY Japan’s ERM division. He is a specially appointed professor for Keio University’s Graduate School of Media and Governance, and is also appointed as an outside corporate auditor of SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS and at many other corporations. He is also responsible for promoting compliance policies in Nagano, Kamakura, and Hamamatsu. He also consults a number of government offices in compliance policies, such as at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
