DeNA Top Company for Kaggle Grandmasters and Kaggle Masters in Japan

TOKYO, JAPAN – January 15, 2021 – DeNA Co., Ltd. would like to announce that its data scientists participated in the Riiid! Answer Correctness Prediction Kaggle competition held from October 2020 to January 2021, and ranked 12th overall (3rd among Japanese teams). Through this competition, two DeNA data scientists were made Grandmasters, the top rank in Kaggle. This resulted in three Kaggle Grandmasters at DeNA, making DeNA the top company* for Kaggle Grandmasters in Japan, which is said to only have a few more than ten overall.

DeNA implemented its in-house Kaggle ranking system from April 2018, and is proactively engaged in various initiatives that make use of AI technology in its business areas. The in-house Kaggle ranking system aims to proactively hire promising data scientists and support the careers of promising data scientists in order to enhance the application of AI technology to actual services. Through this system, DeNA encourages participation in Kaggle competitions during working hours, under certain conditions. DeNA has many employees who are Kagglers and participate in Kaggle competitions. In addition to the three Kaggle Grandmasters, DeNA also has the top number of Kaggle Masters for Japan, with 16 employees at this rank.* The knowledge and skills are being used in DeNA’s various business areas, including games, live streaming, sports, healthcare, and automotive, and in initiatives with companies other than DeNA.
*As of January 15, 2021, per DeNA calculations.

DeNA aims to have exceptional Kaggler data science abilities contribute to and be used by various companies and businesses, not limited to DeNA.

About Kaggle
Kaggle is a platform for prediction modeling and analytical methods, where companies and researchers post data and statisticians and data analysts from around the world compete to develop the optimal model. The Kaggle system is competition-based, with models submitted by participants being instantly graded and ranked. The data scientist who submits the optimal model for a competition receives prize money from companies and researchers.