iAm Hiro

Co-Founder – 8M Labs

Hiro Shinohara

Fascinated by communication technology and computers from an early age, Hiro was profoundly inspired by the Silicon Valley movement. His visit to the West Coast of the United States during his middle school years exposed him to the transformational impact of technology on society, which led him to immerse himself in software development upon his return to Japan. During high school, he developed an internet service, which became the catalyst for his entrepreneurial journey.

Since then, Hiro has established multiple startups focused on semiconductor development and data center operations, with bases in Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, and the U.S. Following the advent of blockchain technology, he recognized the potential of multi-point distributed information and communication infrastructure, founding a research and development company to advance data protection through encryption technology. As a technical advisor and representative for major corporations, he has actively contributed to social implementation.

In 2021, Hiro co-founded the private think tank “8M Labs”. In response to the rapid growth of generative AI in 2023, he established “Quantum Mesh” to urgently address the need for infrastructure that safeguards information. His current focus is on developing and operating edge data centers as a culmination of his efforts, with the vision of creating a society where everyone can equally benefit from a highly information-rich environment without disparities.

Projects

2025–Present
Co-Founder & Director, KAGE Inc.
Security validation and assurance for trusted, made-in-Japan AIoT environments, powered by talented hackers.

2025–Present
Co-Founder & Representative Director, AKATSUKI
Building sovereign Japanese cyber capabilities through partnerships with government, industry, and hackers.

2023–Present
Co-Founder & CEO, Quantum Mesh Inc.
Leading a venture focused on developing distributed internet infrastructure for the AI era.

2022–Present
Founder & CEO, Harmony Inc.
A startup studio nurturing cutting-edge technology development enterprises.

2021–Present
Co-Founder, 8M Labs
A think tank dedicated to safeguarding information and fostering sustainable development in an advanced society.

2018–Present
Investor & Advisor, Nanome Inc.
Developing metaverse-ready products for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors.

2017–2018
Advisor, GMO Internet Group Inc.
Focused on mining data center operations and mining machine development.

2016–2022
Co-Founder & CEO, Hulor Inc.
A startup studio developing blockchain technology enterprises. Transitioned through Hotaru Inc., now integrated into Harmony Inc.

2016–2018
Japan Representative, Genesis Mining Ltd.
ETH mining data center.

2016–2017
Advisor, FIXER Inc.
Advised a leading cloud hosting provider based in Japan.

2015–2025
Co-Founder & CSO, SIVIRA Inc.
A research and development company specializing in blockchain and Decentralized Identity (DID) technology.

2014–Present
Author, ‘What is Bitcoin?’
Contributor of articles on the bitFlyer website.

2013–2018
Founder, BitBiteCoin
Launched a website offering technical explanations and news about Bitcoin.

2005–2012
Founder, messa TV
Created a podcast analyzing technology trends.

Articles

My blog posts

Articles about me

Stages

Asian Development Bank

  • Consultation Workshop on Digital Technologies for Advancing Food Security, Climate Action and Environmental Sustainability
    • 14 March 2019, How Blockchain-enabled food traceability is changing the agricultural supply chain in Japan

Asia Blockchain Summit

SXSW

CERN

Keywords

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