Digital Identity Built on Privacy

In a world where data breaches and identity theft are increasingly common, Hopae is building digital identity infrastructure that puts privacy first. Using blockchain technology, the company creates verification systems that let individuals prove who they are without exposing unnecessary personal data — a fundamental rethinking of how digital identity should work.

CEO Ace Shim brings rare credibility to this space: he co-developed COOV, South Korea's official COVID-19 vaccination wallet, which scaled to 43 million daily active users during the pandemic. That experience in deploying identity infrastructure at national scale directly informs Hopae's approach to building enterprise-grade digital identity products.

What They're Building

Hopae's product suite includes hConnect, an electronic identity gateway that enables seamless identity verification across services, and hCX, a digital wallet infrastructure platform that organizations can use to issue and verify credentials. Both products are built on blockchain to ensure tamper-proof records while preserving user privacy through selective disclosure — users share only the specific identity attributes needed for each verification.

Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Korea, Hopae is targeting enterprise customers in financial services, healthcare, and government sectors where identity verification is both critical and heavily regulated.

Why It Matters

With a $4.3 million seed round, Hopae is positioned at the intersection of two major trends: the global push toward digital identity systems and growing regulatory demand for privacy-preserving technology. The team's proven track record of deploying identity infrastructure to tens of millions of users gives Hopae a significant advantage as governments and enterprises worldwide look to modernize their identity verification systems.