kaonavi
Kaonavi is a Japan-based cloud talent management SaaS provider serving 4,500+ enterprises, government agencies, and educational institutions. Its modular platform centralizes employee data, performance evaluation, skill management, and engagement analytics, holding #1 market share in Japan's talent management SaaS market.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What kaonavi does
Kaonavi is a Tokyo-headquartered cloud SaaS provider of talent management software, founded in 2008 and publicly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (tyo:4435). The company's core product is a modular talent management platform offering two principal plans — a Human Resources DX Plan (employee database, evaluation, labor management) and a Talent Management Plan (adding survey, workforce placement, and analysis/AI modules) — supplemented by industry-specific editions for healthcare (Medical Cloud), government (Government Cloud), and education (Academy Cloud). The platform centralizes employee data, performance evaluations, skill maps, attendance, engagement surveys, and organizational visualization (e.g., Synapse Tree, Shuffle Face, Formation Builder), with native integrations to Slack, Chatwork, freee, Money Forward, Okta, AWS, and Anthropic Claude, and a public REST API v2.0.
Revenue is generated primarily through a per-seat SaaS subscription priced by registered employees, with optional add-on modules (attendance, skill management, ATS, learning library, data backup) and one-off functions; both initial setup fees and monthly recurring fees apply, with annual billing as the default. Go-to-market combines enterprise field sales (serving 500+ employee accounts via a dedicated GB unit), inside sales for the SMB segment, a sales partner program, and product-led growth via free trial and online demo. As of September 2025 the platform served 4,500+ customer companies including Toyota, Mitsubishi Electric, Kirin, Suntory, Terumo, JCB, SMBC Nikko, Keio, Kodansha, and various prefectural and municipal governments.
Kaonavi holds the #1 market share position in Japan's talent management SaaS market per ITR Market View 2024, with ISO 27001, ISO 27017, Privacy Mark, and ISMAP certifications — the first domestic talent management system to register on ISMAP, which is a meaningful procurement gate for Japanese government and large-enterprise deals. The company also operates NEXT FUND, a corporate venture capital initiative backing talent-management-adjacent startups, acquired Work Style Tech (cloud labor management) in late 2023 for ¥736M, and spun off its Yojitsutics budget management subsidiary in June 2026 to refocus on the core platform.
kaonavi firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- kaonavi
- Legal name
- 株式会社カオナビ
- Website
- https://kaonavi.jp
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Kaonavi is a Japan-based cloud talent management SaaS provider serving 4,500+ enterprises, government agencies, and educational institutions. Its modular platform centralizes employee data, performance evaluation, skill management, and engagement analytics, holding #1 market share in Japan's talent management SaaS market.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
kaonavi industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Talent Management Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Managed Workplace Services (DaaS/Workplace-as-a-Service) (BPAEAIAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Data App Builders (Forms, Portals & Internal Tools) (HDAEAKAK)
Keywords
Where kaonavi is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tokyo
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices4 records
Markets served
kaonavi business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription (人事DXプラン / タレントマネジメントプラン): Kaonavi generates revenue primarily through a per-seat SaaS subscription model. Two plans are offered: 人事DXプラン (Human Resources DX Plan) and タレントマネジメントプラン (Talent Management Plan), each with a monthly fee determined by the number of registered employees. Additional optional modules (勤怠管理, 人材育成, etc.) and single-unit functions (ワークフロー, 通勤経路サーチ, データ安心パック, etc.) are add-ons. Both initial setup fees and monthly recurring fees apply based on the number of users.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | 人事DXプラン — core HR digitalization: employee database, evaluation, and labor management modules |
| Subscription | Annual | タレントマネジメントプラン — strategic talent management: all employee database, evaluation, survey, workforce placement, and analysis/AI modules |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Trial and Demo — no-cost evaluation period |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels11 records
kaonavi product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kaonavi provides a cloud-based talent management SaaS platform that centralizes employee data, performance evaluation, labor management, skill management, engagement surveys, and workforce analytics. It offers a face-photo interface employee database with AI-powered features for OCR data input, evaluation commentary, and survey analysis. The platform serves Japanese enterprises, mid-market, government, healthcare, and education organizations through per-employee subscription plans (HR DX Plan and Talent Management Plan) with add-on modules.
Product overview
Kaonavi operates as a modular talent management platform with a core unified product supplemented by industry-specific editions, add-on functional modules, and strategic investments. The primary platform, カオナビ (kaonavi), is a cloud-based talent management system available in two plans: Human Resources DX Plan (for basic HR digitization) and Talent Management Plan (for advanced strategic workforce analytics). Industry-specific editions include Medical Cloud (healthcare), Government Cloud (public sector), and Academy Cloud (education). The platform's core modules include Profile Book (employee database), Smart Review (evaluation workflow), labor management, attendance tracking, Pulse Survey, and Insight Finder (AI analysis). Advanced modules cover skill management (Ability Manager), organizational visualization (Synapse Tree, Shuffle Face), transfer planning (Formation Builder), position management (Position Matching), dashboard reporting, e-learning (Learning Library), and applicant tracking (ATS). The company also operates NEXT FUND as a corporate venture capital initiative and owns Yojitsutics (budget management), which was spun off in 2026. The kaonavi API v2.0 enables third-party integrations with external HR and business systems.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- カオナビ メディカルクラウド: 医療機関向けの特別プラン。医療法人や保険組合を対象としたタレントマネジメントシステム
- カオナビ Enterprise Edition
- カオナビ Academy Cloud
- カオナビ Government Cloud
Products and services
- Kaonavi (カオナビ) - Talent Management Platform Cloud-based talent management system serving as the primary platform product. Enables employee database management, performance evaluations, labor management, skill management, and strategic workforce planning. Offers two main plans: Human Resources DX Plan (basic HR digitization) and Talent Management Plan (advanced strategic workforce analytics).
- Kaonavi Medical Cloud (カオナビ メディカルクラウド)
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduction in HR administrative work effort by approximately 40% (as reported by Takeda Hospital Group)
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use kaonavi
Customer profileNamed customers87 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
kaonavi technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration34 records
AI capability13 records
Feature8 records
kaonavi partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- CybozucoreKaonavi co-hosted a post-event networking gathering with Cybozu at the Engineering Management Conference Japan 2026. This represents a mutual GTM partnership where Kaonavi participates in co-marketing events alongside other leading Japanese SaaS companies to reach shared target audiences in the HR and enterprise software space.
- SmartHRcoreKaonavi co-hosted a post-event networking gathering with SmartHR at the Engineering Management Conference Japan 2026. SmartHR is a leading Japanese HR SaaS platform, and the co-marketing event targets shared audiences of HR professionals and engineering managers.
- GenieeminorKaonavi co-hosted a post-event networking gathering with Geniee at the Engineering Management Conference Japan 2026. Event co-marketing partnership targeting HR and technology professionals.
- UPSIDERminorUPSIDER served as the Silver sponsor of the Engineering Management Conference Japan 2026 and invited Kaonavi to co-host the post-event networking gathering along with Cybozu, Geniee, and SmartHR. UPSIDER provides financial infrastructure services for SMEs and startups.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
kaonavi competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- CYBIZZO / CYBOZU kintone: Japanese low-code business application platform used to build custom HR/talent management apps. Indirect competitor — customers can choose between building on kintone or buying Kaonavi's packaged solution.
- Culture Amp: Global employee engagement and performance management platform. Competes with Kaonavi's Pulse Survey, Insight Finder, and Smart Review modules for Japanese enterprises seeking engagement-centric HR tech.
Direct peers
- Talent Palette (Cornerstone OnDemand Japan): Japanese-market talent management platform offering employee database, evaluation, engagement, and succession planning. Directly comparable to Kaonavi in product surface and target segment.
- HRBrain: Japanese talent management and HR analytics SaaS offering employee database, evaluation, engagement, and organizational analytics. Closely comparable product set to Kaonavi and competes for the same Japanese enterprise customers.
- SmartHR: Leading Japanese cloud HR and payroll platform (labor management, employee database, social insurance). Direct competitor to Kaonavi in the Japanese mid-market and SMB HR SaaS segment; identified in Kaonavi's own data as a co-marketing partner, indicating closely overlapping buyer personas.
Regional players
- BambooHR: US-based SMB-focused HR platform with employee database, onboarding, and performance management. Comparable product surface to Kaonavi's SMB offering, but operates primarily outside Japan.
Broad incumbents
- Oracle HCM Cloud: Global enterprise HCM platform with talent management, workforce management, and analytics modules. Competes for large Japanese enterprise HR transformations where Oracle ERP is already deployed.
- Workday: Global cloud HCM and financials suite with talent management, recruiting, learning, and analytics. Competes with Kaonavi for large Japanese multinational and enterprise HR buyers seeking integrated finance+HR platforms.
- freee: Japanese cloud accounting, payroll, and HR platform with strong SMB presence. Overlaps with Kaonavi on employee database and labor management for SMB and mid-market Japanese customers; both integrate with payroll systems.
- SAP SuccessFactors: Global enterprise HCM suite covering core HR, talent management, learning, and analytics. Targets the same large-enterprise HR decision-makers as Kaonavi, particularly within Japanese subsidiaries of multinational corporations.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
kaonavi social profiles
Digital presencekaonavi compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
kaonavi financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
kaonavi leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
kaonavi subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
kaonavi funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
kaonavi M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments3 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about kaonavi
What does kaonavi do?
Kaonavi provides a cloud-based talent management SaaS platform that centralizes employee data, performance evaluation, labor management, skill management, engagement surveys, and workforce analytics. It offers a face-photo interface employee database with AI-powered features for OCR data input, evaluation commentary, and survey analysis. The platform serves Japanese enterprises, mid-market, government, healthcare, and education organizations through per-employee subscription plans (HR DX Plan and Talent Management Plan) with add-on modules.
Is kaonavi a public or private company?
kaonavi is a private company. It is classified as public and is currently operating.
When was kaonavi founded?
kaonavi was founded in 2008. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is kaonavi based?
kaonavi is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does kaonavi make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription (人事DXプラン / タレントマネジメントプラン).
Who are kaonavi's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are CYBIZZO / CYBOZU kintone and Culture Amp. Direct peers are Talent Palette (Cornerstone OnDemand Japan), HRBrain and SmartHR. BambooHR is listed as a regional player. Broad incumbents are Oracle HCM Cloud, Workday, freee and SAP SuccessFactors.
Does kaonavi have an API?
Yes. kaonavi API v2.0 is a public API that enables external systems to connect and integrate with kaonavi's talent management platform. Supports data synchronization with core systems, enabling automated data exchange for employee information, evaluation data, and other HR records. The API documentation is available at the developer portal. Developer documentation is at developer.kaonavi.jp/api/v2.0/index.html.
What industry is kaonavi in?
kaonavi's product category is Talent Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAIAA, Managed Workplace Services (DaaS/Workplace-as-a-Service), with a secondary code of HDAEAKAK, Data App Builders (Forms, Portals & Internal Tools). Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7372.