Plaza start-up; Young guns ditch Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, Canva ...

“There was no privacy,” Mr Lu said.

Plaza offers software tools that the founders said make it easier for organisations to build blockchain-based digital engagement initiatives, which can work with existing marketing technology systems.

“We’ve all been friends for a while. We thought COVID was the perfect chance to take a step back and try to build something on our own,” Mr Lin said.

Mr Lin was a former investment banking analyst who always aspired to work in tech, while Mr Lu began his career at Microsoft learning how to sell enterprise technology. They would often brainstorm ideas for their own company.

The start-up has been used by web3 marketing and consulting agency Mooning for marketing initiatives for Accor Hotels, and has also worked with Australian cricketer Nathan Lyon on a new engagement platform GOATD, which uses NFTs to give fans access to content and merchandise from athletes.

“Right now there’s a lot of technical barriers to blockchain development that are slowing down the adoption of this technology and its real-world applications,” Mr Lin said.

“There are many brands overseas that are getting into this space, but the barriers are still relatively high for most organisations.”

For example, late last year Starbucks started testing its Odyssey program that combines customer loyalty rewards with NFTs.

The company plans to use its pre-seed funding primarily for product development.

Mr Lin said some new features would include clients being able to offer access passes that unlock new rewards, tradeable collectibles for post-purchase or post-event engagement, and new ways of offering loyalty points, currencies and status tiers.

While web3, blockchain-based technology was flavour-of-the-month a year ago, collapses in the crypto space have dampened enthusiasm for digital assets.

The founders said they had this sentiment in mind and were focused on building a sustainable business, with practical use cases for brands to drive the adoption of web3 technologies.

“We’re conscious of the market volatility in the press recently, so we’re focused on building out real-world applications that focus on the underlying tech itself, rather than speculative crypto assets,” Mr Lin said.