The special Startups of The Year 2024 Winners Interview series is a celebration of all this year’s Tech Champions. You’ve earned it! The HackerNoon community can’t wait to learn more about your journey!
Tell us about you.
Hoken Tech is an Italian startup committed to connecting brands to people using Italian expertise. Our mission is to provide artists the opportunity to test and experience blockchain technology, enabling them to create and digitize their works and use NFTs as a channel for visibility and sales. Our vision is to be at the forefront of art and technology, offering innovative solutions that empower artists and brands alike.
Tell us how your startup is changing the world.
Hoken Tech functions as a bridge between traditional art and the digital world, providing a tailor made service for artists to explore NFTs. Our ultimate goal is to democratize the art market, making it more accessible and transparent through blockchain technology. By offering artists the tools to digitize and tokenize their work, we are creating new revenue streams and fostering a more direct relationship between creators and collectors .
What sets you apart from the competition?
Hoken Tech stands out due to its strong collaboration with the Michele Cea Foundation, offering artists the chance to create NFTs of their works free of charge. This collaboration allows artists to test and experience blockchain technology, digitize their creations, and use NFTs as a channel for increased visibility and sales. Our focus on Italian artistry and our commitment to providing tangible benefits to artists through the Cea Foundation partnership makes us unique .
What does it mean for you to win this title?
Winning this title is a tremendous honor and validation of our mission. It highlights the importance of our work in merging art and technology and inspires us to continue pushing the boundaries of innovation in the NFT space. This recognition will propel us forward, allowing us to expand our reach and impact within the art community. Not to mention that this is the third time we won this incredible prize.
What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to set out for this mission?
Our team comprises passionate individuals with expertise in art, technology, and blockchain. We foster innovation by encouraging experimentation, collaboration, and continuous learning. We believe in the power of art to connect people and the potential of technology to empower artists, making us uniquely suited to drive this mission forward.
Looking back, what milestone was the biggest turning point for your startup?
The biggest turning point for Hoken Tech was our collaboration with the Michele Cea Foundation. This partnership allowed us to offer artists free NFT creation services, showcasing the practical benefits of blockchain technology in the art world. The lesson we learned is the importance of strategic partnerships in achieving product-market fit and expanding our reach.
What’s one valuable lesson you learned this year that you’d pass on to other startups?
In 2024, we learned the importance of adaptability and resilience in the face of evolving market conditions. For 2025, we are excited to further develop our platform and expand our collaborations within the art and technology sectors. In addition we also launched the first AI tool, TrustWatch, to check if a luxury watch is fake or not.
How do you envision your industry evolving in the coming years, and how will your startup stay ahead?
We envision the art industry becoming increasingly integrated with blockchain technology, with NFTs playing a more prominent role in art sales and collection. Hoken Tech will stay ahead by continuously innovating our platform, fostering strategic partnerships, and remaining committed to empowering artists through technology.
How do you or your company intend to embrace the responsibility of this title in 2025?
As a 2024 Startups of The Year winner, we will use this title to advocate for the adoption of blockchain technology in the art world and to promote the work of emerging artists. We will also leverage this recognition to expand our network and create new opportunities for collaboration and growth.
What goals are you looking forward to accomplishing in 2025?
In 2025, we aim to onboard more artists onto our platform, expand our collaborations with art institutions, and launch new features that enhance the NFT creation and sales process. Our goal is to solidify our position as a leading innovator in the art and technology space.
2024 has been crazy, with all the new techs, and all the geopolitics fluctuations. What are the impacts of these to your startup, and to your industry as a whole? Be as brief or as detailed as you like.
The rapid advancements in technology and geopolitical fluctuations in 2024 have underscored the need for agility and adaptability. We’ve navigated these challenges by staying informed, embracing new technologies, and maintaining a flexible business model.
We would love your feedback on HackerNoon as a tech publication! How has your experience been with us?
Is always incredible this platform and the people behind this projects, because let people discover new things, to publish article and connecting with people from all over the world.
Any words of wisdom you’d like to share with us?
Embrace innovation, stay true to your mission, and never underestimate the power of collaboration.
About HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year
Startups of The Year 2024 is HackerNoon’s flagship community-driven event celebrating startups, technology, and the spirit of innovation. Currently in its third iteration, the prestigious Internet award recognizes and celebrates tech startups of all shapes and sizes. This year, over 150,000 entities across 4200+ cities, 6 continents, and 100+ industries will participate in a bid to be crowned the best startup of the year! Millions of votes have been cast over the past few years, and many stories have been written about these daring and rising startups.
The winners will get a free interview on HackerNoon and an Evergreen Tech Company Newspage.
Visit our FAQ page to learn more.
Download our design assets here.
Check out the Startups of the Year Merch Shop here.
HackerNoon’s Startups of The Year is a branding opportunity unlike any other. Whether your goal is brand awareness or lead generation, HackerNoon has curated startup-friendly packages to solve your marketing challenges.
Wellfound:. Join the #1 global, startup-focused community. At Wellfound, we’re not just a job board—we’re the place where top startup talent and the world’s most exciting companies connect to build the future.
Notion: Notion is trusted and loved by thousands of startups as their connected workspace—from building product roadmaps to tracking fundraising. Try Notion with unlimited AI, FREE for up to 6 months, to build and scale your company with one powerful tool. Get your offer now!
Hubspot: If you’re looking for a smart CRM platform that meets the needs of small businesses, look no further than HubSpot. Seamlessly connect your data, teams and customers in one easy-to-use scalable platform that grows with your business. Get started for free.
Bright Data: Startups that leverage public web data can make faster, data-driven decisions, giving them a competitive edge. With Bright Data’s scalable web data collection, businesses can grow from a small operation to an enterprise by harnessing insights at every stage.
Algolia: Algolia NeuralSearch is the world’s only AI end-to-end Search and Discovery Platform combining powerful keyword and natural language processing in a single API.
