About for Startups

Company profile

Company name

for Startups, Inc.

Location of head office

36F, Izumi Garden Tower, 1-6-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-6036

Capital

226million yen(as of June 30, 2022)

Established

September 1, 2016

Representative

Yuichiro Shimizu, President

Number of regular employees

187 (as of April 1st, 2023)

Nature of business

Growth industry support services

License

Employment placement business license 13-Yu-307946

Additional information

Member of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren)
Member of the Japan Association of New Economy (Shinkeiren)
CVC member of the Japan Venture Capital Association (JVCA)
Selected as a supporter company of J-Startup by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry

Board Members

Yuichiro Shimizu

PRESIDENT AND CEO

After launching the career change service "Doda" at Intelligence, Ltd. (currently Persol Career Co., Ltd.), in 2016 he established NET jinzai bank, Inc. (currently for Startups, Inc.) to engage in support services for growth industries, and became its president and CEO. Also in 2016, in the Japan Headhunter Awards, he was named Japan's first Hall of Fame headhunter. He has served since 2019 on the venture ecosystem committee of the Japan Venture Capital Association, and in 2020, he was appointed to a task force on startup policy under Keidanren's Sub-committee on Startups.

Yukiko Tsuneda

MANAGING DIRECTOR; HEAD OF TALENT AGENCY DIVISION

She worked at Sammy Networks Co., Ltd. and then joined Metaps Inc., becoming the business manager of that company. She joined NET jinzai bank, Inc. (currently for Startups, Inc.) in October 2016, and took on the management of the Talent Agency Division after becoming an executive officer in April 2018. She became a director in 2019. In 2020, she became a member of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai). She was appointed Managing Director in 2021. She received the Creation category award in the 17th Globis Alumni Awards.

Isao Kikuchi

DIRECTOR; HEAD OF CORPORATE DIVISION

At Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC, he did statutory audit work for domestic and global companies and was involved in advisory services to support measures such as the development of internal controls and introduction of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). In 2018, he joined for Startups, Inc. as a corporate auditor. He then took on the management of the Corporate Division, with responsibility for all back office operations. He became a director in 2019. He is a certified public accountant.

Kazuhiko Shimizu

DIRECTOR; HEAD OF ACCELERATION DIVISION

He worked at Glorious Co., Ltd. and RSS Kokokusha (currently Fringe81 Co., Ltd.), and then participated in the launch of NET jinzai bank at Saint Media, Inc. (currently Willof Work, Inc.). He has continued to gain experience in the human resources business, and after becoming an executive officer in 2018, he took charge of human resources as CHRO. He became a director and head of the Human Resources Division in June 2019, and he became the head of the Acceleration Division in July 2019. In May 2021, he became a representative of for Startups Capital Inc.

Taro Saito

OUTSIDE DIRECTOR

After working at Dentsu Inc. for ten years, in 2005 he established dof inc., a company whose mission is to create culture and value. He solved essential issues for a variety of companies and brands, from the formulation of corporate missions, visions, and values to product development, marketing strategies, and final output of advertising materials. He has served as outside director of ZOZO, Inc., outside director of Carta Holdings, Inc., and co-founder of CC Inc. He became an outside director of our company in 2019.

Takaaki Umezawa

OUTSIDE DIRECTOR

As Chairperson of CIC Japan, he leads the effort to develop a vibrant innovation community at CIC Tokyo, Japan's largest innovation center. As Japan Chairman of A.T. Kearney, he has served leading corporations in Japan and the US for 25 years.
He sits on government committees on tourism, urban policies, intellectual property strategy and Cool Japan, and taxation.

Junko Shima

OUTSIDE DIRECTOR (FULL-TIME Audit and Supervisory Committee Member）

She worked at the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan, Ltd. (currently Shinsei Bank, Ltd.), and then at the London office of Coopers & Lybrand. She joined Meiji Audit Corporation (currently ARK LLC) in 2002 and engaged in accounting audits there. She joined COLOPL, Inc. in 2016 and handled internal audits there. She became an outside corporate auditor of our company in 2018.

Masao Horiuchi

OUTSIDE DIRECTOR (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member）

He worked for Nippon Investment & Finance Co., Ltd. and then joined Intelligence, Ltd. in 1995. He became a corporate auditor of CyberAgent, Inc. in 1998. In 2009, he became the head of the internal control office of USEN Corporation. He became a director and head of the management division of U-NEXT in 2010, and was registered as a tax accountant, also in 2010. In 2017, he became a full-time corporate auditor of USEN-Next Holdings Co., Ltd. and an outside director (audit and supervisory committee member) of CyberAgent, Inc. He became an outside director of our company in 2020.

Yoshihiro Akimoto

OUTSIDE DIRECTOR (Audit and Supervisory Committee Member）

After being registered as a lawyer in 2000, he worked at Asahi Law Offices (currently Nishimura & Asahi), then at GREE, Inc. as an in-house lawyer, and became independent in 2014. He is a partner at Eiwa Law Office. He became an outside corporate auditor of our company in 2018. He also serves as an outside corporate auditor of Giftee, Inc. and an outside corporate auditor of Mirrativ, Inc.

Executive officers

Naoki Rokumaru

EXECUTIVE OFFICER, TALENT AGENCY DIVISION

He was engaged in launching an advertising agency subsidiary as an alliance business in an Internet venture. He then participated in the launch of a team specializing in the Internet sector at Pasona Inc. (then Pasona Career), a major recruitment company. In 2015, he was a participant in NET jinzai bank, Inc. (currently for Startups, Inc.). Since then, he has provided support for leadership in the CxO and executive class for leading startups, on the theme of support for growth industries.

Satoko Suzuki

EXECUTIVE OFFICER, TALENT AGENCY DIVISION

She worked at Recruit Co., Ltd., then gained experience in corporate sales at an advertising agency, and transitioned to Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., Ltd. After working at Kaizen Platform, Inc., she joined Metaps Inc., where she was in charge of PR for the companies and services of the entire group as an executive officer. She became a participant in for Startups, Inc. in 2019, taking a leading role in talent production, and became an executive officer in 2021. She is executive director of the New Norm Consortium, a mentor in a support program of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and a radio personality.

Yuta Nakamura

EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ACCELERATION DIVISION

He worked at SoftBank Mobile Corp. (currently SoftBank Corp.) and gained experience in sales and sales planning. He won a company-wide business contest and worked at SoftBank Academia, the company's successor training program; he was then in charge of business startup as a business manager. He became a participant in NET jinzai bank, Inc. (currently for Startups, Inc.) in 2015 and worked as a human capitalist for three years. After that, he worked to develop alliances with major companies and local governments and to promote the launch of the Open Innovation service. He became an executive officer in 2020.

Shigeru Takeuchi

EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CTO, ACCELERATION DIVISION

After joining Yahoo Japan Corporation as a web engineer, I worked at GMO TECH, Inc., where I launched an advertising ASP service, became the development manager, and experienced the company's IPO. After that, I gained experience as a freelance full-stack engineer and joined NET Jinzai Bank, Inc. (now for Startups, Inc.) in 2015. I was the 1st engineer to be involved in all aspects of development and also experienced the company's IPO. I became the product owner of the company's service "STARTUP DB" in January 2022, and became a professional officer (Chief Technology Officer) in April 2023.