My name is Max, and I am the CEO and co-founder of Kindred. I grew up on a farm in Australia and started entrepreneurship when I was 10. I learned about selling products and starting my own business selling drawings, and that's where I kind of learned.
Later, in my master's and my PhD research, I became deeply fascinated with how humans form emotional bonds with artificial life. So, my studies explored examples like Tamagotchi and Neopets to understand how digital companions can profoundly impact emotional well-being.
I led a student investment fund and an innovation consultancy, and then gravitated towards innovation hubs like Singapore and San Francisco, and that's where I'm currently at. And then I'm currently building Kindred, which is bringing to life beloved characters like Hello Kitty or Pudgy Penguins into the limelight as emotionally intelligent AI companions.
The original vision of MetaPals was always about crafting beloved virtual companions that users genuinely cared for—kind of like digital pets. After launching the browser extension and then doing a bunch of beta tests, we saw incredible traction, not just from our core audience but also from a surprisingly diverse user base.
So we had people coming to me, like elderly users requesting specific types of companions for emotional support, let's say. Some Asian communities wanted K-pop idols as chibi versions of Hello Kitty, well-known IP characters. And then I had things like edutech and fintech brands coming to me about wanting to leverage our technology as a vehicle for the enterprise.
All of these unexpected or surprising use cases continued to emerge. So, it became clear that the potential here was far beyond the initial scope that we had mapped out. That realization kind of kick-started this pivot, or I guess we should say rebrand, to be more diverse in terms of our illustration style and IP partnerships, and then more in terms of the application side.
Great question. It's not all flashy. I think that, behind the hood, when it comes to these IP partnerships, they're very valuable. I would say that the two main reasons we utilize this kind of partnership are that things like Hello Kitty allow us to leapfrog when it comes to traditional user acquisition hurdles. So instead of starting from scratch, we're tapping into the existing communities of millions of passionate fans who love these characters. That ends up dramatically improving conversion rates. Think of Hello Kitty—you have 100 million fans worldwide.
Now it's not something where it's just a Hello Kitty on a tote bag or a Hello Kitty in a game, but rather Hello Kitty coming to life, and it's the most genuine sense possible. That results in a very high conversion rate.
The second, I would say, is more about one of the biggest challenges right now in the personal AI space: overcoming this sense of uncanny valley—this discomfort users feel when interacting with this faceless assistant. So, for example, like Siri or Google Assistant, it's just kind of this blob. Then, the alternative is something where you see this humanoid semi-realistic avatar, and that is more of a crossing or not crossing the uncanny valley.
We can tell that it's not an actual human; it's a CGI-type character, which gives us discomfort and distrust. By using these familiar characters, we can, in a sense, bypass the psychological barrier entirely.
That familiarity with the characters, from their lore, from their storyline, and just the idea that we can trust them to that degree allows us to form those emotional bonds and, in turn, integrate more of these companions throughout our different devices and applications.
I mean, we look into this quite a lot when it comes to user feedback and trying to understand how we maximize engagement and retention rate. What we identify are three main pillars of what our technology does differently that could shed light into why our engagement is so high.
The first is our focus on emotionally intelligent AI. The AI dynamically adapts to users' emotional context, creating personalized interactions that feel genuine, which is quite important for that emotional bond.
The second, which is more what you see in a visual identity, is the always-on presence. So we've chosen to use a browser extension, eventually moving towards a mobile application. However, it'll be on top of your screen. So, if anyone knows Microsoft Clippy, it's an always-on-top-of-your-screen presence. That ends up being quite an important tool in top-of-mind awareness, but also accessibility and convenience.
Thirdly, we have just our IP characters. And so that's always going to be a part of Kindred. Leveraging these IP characters just results in a very high engagement rate because you love the character in the first place.
Let's use the example of Pudgy Penguin. Let's say you have your Pudgy Penguin Kindred companion—it wakes you up through your phone. Instead of your alarm clock, it's your Pudgy Penguin that jumps onto the screen and wakes you up. Then, it shows you personalized updates about your schedule or market news.
When you go to your laptop, it seamlessly jumps from your mobile to your laptop screen. It's ready to assist you in tasks or simply provide you with a sense of companionship throughout your work day, just having a little Pudgy sleeping in the corner of your screen.
Let's say later, when you go out for a run, it'll jump to your smartwatch and be able to track your time or give you encouraging words. The idea here is that this is a personal companion that not only provides that functionality across your devices but also sparks joy in your life.
Not everything in life needs to be highly functional, black and white. Sometimes, you need a sense of joy and magic that helps us, right? And that's what we are trying to go for with Kindred.
So with 0G, I think it mostly helped very much with our backend infrastructure. We were looking for decentralized storage solutions, but also one that worked well with data availability layers and more scalable blockchain integrations that work with AI specifically. There really isn't something like that available beyond 0G's ecosystem.
So far, the 0G ecosystem has been the most relevant to combining the decentralized aspect we are going for — that sense of co-ownership — while also being tailored towards inference and compute within AI. That kind of unique combination is a tough issue, and I'm glad 0G is tackling it.
The synergy here lies primarily in 0G's robust decentralized infrastructure. It's optimized for both large-scale data storage and low-latency availability, both of which are extremely important for real-time interactions, especially when dealing with emotionally intelligent AI agents like ours. I can't stress enough the importance of low latency combined with context awareness.
It'd be great to have a companion that speaks and replies fast, but if it doesn’t understand you, doesn’t know the context, or what you said yesterday, the relevance falls apart. 0G’s infrastructure focus, plus the ownership it enables, allows us to create monetization paths when we open up our creator economy. Overall, it’s a reliable, robust infrastructure we can count on.
Like I mentioned, 0G is tackling a very tough problem. Combining Web3 and AI is, for the most part, like a suicide mission — there are so many barriers between the two. But the potential synergy is there. Getting past the roadblocks won’t be easy, but 0G has the right people and the right approach.
We value their focus on low-cost storage and latency. Doing that in a decentralized way is key. Because of the decentralized model, we’re aiming for lower compute, and though it's a long road, I have faith in 0G. It’s probably the largest ecosystem out there, and Michael is a fantastic founder. I'm proud to be part of the 0G ecosystem.
This was our first initial NFT launch with Teletubbies in the middle of last year. The key drivers were: first, we focused on onboarding. At the time, Web2-style onboarding was still new. We made it possible to buy a Teletubby companion with a credit card, debit card, GPay, Apple Pay, Bitcoin, Ethereum—whatever you had. That inclusivity was important, especially since our product sits right between Web2 and Web3 audiences.
Second, the IP. Teletubbies organically attracted a huge number of users—with no paid marketing. Lastly, we had a live product. Once you minted the NFT, it instantly became active in the extension—you could see your Teletubby jump onto your screen in seconds. Having a working product right away was rare in Web3, and it was a huge selling point.
Next is definitely mobile integration. We’ve already shown a bit—like your Pudgy Penguin jumping onto your laptop screen. But the “wow” moment will be when it’s on your phone, on top of your apps, and then jumps from there to your laptop. That’s going to blow people’s minds—I'm looking forward to that later this year.
Then, next year, we’ll open up to the ecosystem, allowing creators to build their own avatars and monetize through co-ownership. I’m really excited to see what creations emerge from that. We’ll launch on mobile, but users can seamlessly move to the browser extension. As long as you have a browser — Chrome, Safari, etc. — we’re compatible. Eventually, we’ll move to a desktop app, available across Mac and Microsoft ecosystems.
Dafu and KJ are definitely valuable assets. I love people—especially mentors—who feel like they’ve had one too many cups of coffee. They're always on the move and ready to help. When I need something, they’re already finding resources or intros for me. They also took initiative—I didn’t always have to go to them, which I appreciate.
From OnePiece Labs overall, one great thing is their ongoing global events. I’m always invited — tons of chances to speak, pitch, or just participate. That helped us with awareness and credibility.
Pairing OnePiece Labs with the 0G ecosystem was a powerful combo. It helped us build a new community, which is especially important for what we’re building.
I think choosing an accelerator that’s aligned with your vertical is essential. In our case, it was Web3 and AI. Being able to choose an accelerator that’s somewhat niche in its focus allows you to receive highly targeted mentorship, rather than generic startup advice. This is especially valuable for repeat founders or those who are no longer at the very beginning of their journey. It enables you to connect with mentors who deeply understand what your startup is building, which helped us stay focused and ship quickly.
As a founder, it's always tempting to chase the full vision of what you're trying to build — targeting multiple platforms, implementing advanced AI, and tackling everything at once. But it’s important to be reminded to start small, even within a larger vision. Focusing on the smallest possible MVP that tests your core assumptions and shipping that quickly is key.
Being in an accelerator that helps guide you through that, with the right people and mentorship for your specific challenges, made all the difference for our product and business.
OnePiece Labs is a premier Web3 accelerator dedicated to supporting mid-stage startups. Through mentorship, networking opportunities, and tailored programs, OnePiece Labs accelerates the growth of promising Web3 projects, shaping the future of decentralized technology.
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