Investing.com – Meet Gecko Sec, the team of ‘gigabrains’ emerging from the EasyA hackathon, is heading to Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator incubator.
Gecko Sec helps Web3 developers code securely without the hassle of ineffective tools or one-off security tests that quickly become irrelevant. The team is particularly focused on supporting projects around , solving one of the biggest challenges in Web3. The importance of security audits in the industry is underscored by the millions spent each month on security inspections alone.
Founded in 2005, California-based Y Combinator has built a robust reputation for helping startups grow, and nine of its companies have been acquired by Google (NASDAQ:) and seven by Facebook (NASDAQ:).
Reflecting on their journey, Jeevan Juttla, who previously worked at Binance as a security engineer, credited EasyA for helping them transition from hackathon participants to Y Combinator-backed founders.
Artemiy Malyshau added: “What started at the EasyA hackathon led to us receiving support from Y Combinator. Big shout out to Phil and Dom for pushing us out of our comfort zone and bringing us here!”
EasyA has become the starting point for Web3 talent. It claims to have trained over 100,000 developers on the Polkadot ecosystem. During the EasyA x Polkadot hackathon in London, the app selected over 400 developers to participate, which it said led to the creation of 56 startups.
Following the London event, EasyA hosted the second Polkadot hackathon at Harvard University, where over 300 developers launched 55 games using NFTs on the Unique Network parachain. During the event, the prize pool was $20,000, and the guest appearance was by INDY500 competitor Conor Daly.
EasyA graduates are said to have founded startups valued at over $3 billion and have secured funding from top venture capital firms. Cognition AI, a company founded by EasyA hackathon winner Walden Yan, achieved a $2 billion valuation in April. Walden originally presented his idea for DALLE on the blockchain at Harvard’s 2022 EasyA hackathon.