What FELLOWS does

FELLOWS Inc. (株式会社フェローズ) is a Tokyo-headquartered, Japan-based creative industry staffing and talent management firm founded in April 2003. The company specializes in connecting creative professionals—including filmmakers, designers, animators, game developers, and web creators—with client companies across broadcasting, advertising, gaming, anime, web/digital, and design sectors. FELLOWS operates a two-sided marketplace serving enterprise clients seeking flexible creative staffing solutions and individual creative professionals pursuing employment or career development. The company has built a network of 69,000 registered creatives and 7,300+ client companies across 16 domestic branches plus overseas subsidiaries in Singapore and Hawaii, reaching 10.2 billion yen (~$66M USD) in FY2024 revenue and approximately 170 employees as of April 2026. The firm is led by founder Kentaro Nogi (野儀 健太郎) as Representative Director and CEO and is privately held with no disclosed external investors.

FELLOWS' core service is creative talent dispatch and permanent placement, operated under a Double-Side Agent (DSA) model in which a single specialized agent manages both the creative professional and the client company across outreach, consultation, matching, and ongoing follow-up (12+ touchpoints annually per creator). Approximately 130 specialized agents cover distinct creative verticals (Broadcast & Visual, Graphic & Publishing, Web & Digital Content, Anime, Game Entertainment). Around 3,000+ creators are currently contracted. Beyond core staffing, FELLOWS has built an extended ecosystem: training and education (Fellows Creative Academy, CREATORS COMPLEX online community, corporate training programs with 1,500+ cumulative corporate training participants and 12,300+ seminar participants); media operations (CREATORS STATION web magazine with 4,360+ published articles; FELLOWS EXPRESS bimonthly publication); film and cultural initiatives (FFF-S student short film festival with 1,149 cumulative submissions, FFF-S BEYOND filmmaker development project, monthly short film screenings, FELLOWS CREATIVE LIVE, children's musical program with 205 cumulative participants); restaurant operations (鮨 野儀 sushi restaurant opened May 2022, 和 のぎ, FELLOWS Bistro&Bar); and overseas creative staffing through wholly-owned subsidiaries in Singapore and Hawaii. A related film-production company, 株式会社ディグ&フェローズ (established 2017 with mixed ownership), has produced feature-length works including 'STEP OUT にーにーのニライカナイ' (2025).

FELLOWS earns revenue primarily through margin on dispatched creative professionals (Tokyo benchmark: 21,160 yen daily client billing rate vs. 14,241 yen worker payment, implying ~32.7% gross margin on dispatch) and via placement fees for permanent hires. The company holds Japanese regulatory licenses for temporary staffing dispatch (派-13-070556) and fee-based employment placement (13-ユ-070478), both legally required to operate its core business. Distribution is sales-led through direct agent relationships across the branch network, supplemented by self-service web platforms for both creatives (job.fellow-s.co.jp) and corporate clients. Marketing is driven by content (CREATORS STATION, FELLOWS EXPRESS), events (FFF-S, industry fairs such as AnimeJapan, Adobe MAX Japan), and community platforms (CREATORS COMPLEX, Fellows Creative Academy). The company has invested in CSR through a Belgian football club sponsorship (STVV) supporting Japanese player development abroad, while primary growth has been funded internally from operating cash flow.

Name

FELLOWS

Legal name

株式会社フェローズ

Website

https://fellow-s.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

FELLOWS is a Japan-based creative industry staffing and talent management firm operating a Double-Side Agent (DSA) model. It connects 69,000 registered creative professionals with 7,300+ client companies across 18 branches in Japan, Singapore, and Hawaii.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Creative Industry Staffing Services

NAICS

Temporary Help Services (56132), Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Help Supply Services (7363)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Generalist Staffing Agencies (BPACACAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

General Permanent Placement (Multi-Industry) (BPACAFAA), Remote & Global/Multilingual Direct Hire (BPACAFAO)

Keywords

• Creative talent staffing
• Talent placement services
• Creative industry recruitment
• Temporary staffing services
• Employment agency services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices18 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Creative Talent Dispatch: Dispatching registered creative professionals (filmmakers, designers, animators, game developers, etc.) to client companies on a temporary staffing basis. The company earns margin on the hourly/daily rates charged to clients.
2. Talent Placement/Recruitment: Fee-based permanent placement services matching creative professionals with client companies seeking full-time hires.
3. Training and Education: Fellows Creative Academy seminars and workshops, corporate training programs, and e-learning services for skill development.
4. Film Production and Cultural Projects: Film investment, production support, and film festival operations including FFF-S student film festival.
5. Food Service Operations: Restaurant and dining establishment operations including sushi restaurant, Japanese cuisine, and bistro venues.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

FELLOWS provides creative-industry-specific temporary staffing (haken/派遣) and permanent placement (shoukai/紹介) services, matching registered creative professionals such as filmmakers, designers, animators, game developers, and web creators with client companies across video, web/digital, game, anime, and design sectors. Its Double-Side Agent (DSA) system assigns a single agent to handle both the creative candidate and the hiring company, conducting outreach, consultation, matching, and ongoing follow-up. The company supplements this core service with training programs, online community, web media, film culture initiatives, next-generation talent programs, and restaurant operations.

Product overview

FELLOWS operates as a creative industry talent management and staffing platform built around its core クリエイティブ人材派遣・紹介 service, which connects businesses with creative professionals across video, web, game, anime, design, and spatial disciplines using a Double-Side Agent (DSA) model. The company supplements its core staffing business with education and community offerings (Fellows Creative Academy, CREATORS COMPLEX), media platforms (CREATORS STATION, FELLOWS EXPRESS), film culture initiatives (FFF-S student film festival, FFF-S BEYOND, monthly short film screenings, FELLOWS CREATIVE LIVE), next-generation talent development (FELLOWS仲間・子どもミュージカル), and restaurant/hospitality venues (鮨 野儀, 和 のぎ, FELLOWS Bistro&Bar). International staffing services are delivered through subsidiaries in Singapore and Hawaii. All services are coordinated via the company's domestic network of 18 branches and overseas offices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CREATORS STATION: クリエイティブ業界の最新動向やクリエイターへのインタビューを配信するWebメディア（クリステ）。
• FELLOWS EXPRESS
• Fellows Creative Academy
• CREATORS COMPLEX
• 学生短編映画祭 FFF-S
• FFF-S BEYOND
• フェローズ月1短編映画上映会
• FELLOWS CREATIVE LIVE
• FELLOWS仲間・子どもミュージカル
• 鮨 野儀
• 和 のぎ
• FELLOWS Bistro&Bar
• Fellows Creative Staff Singapore Pte. Ltd.
• Fellows Hawaii Inc.

Products and services

• Creative Talent Dispatch & Placement Service Temporary staffing (dispatch) and permanent placement services that match registered creative professionals (filmmakers, designers, animators, game developers, web creators) with client companies in the video, web, game, anime, and design sectors, delivered through the Double-Side Agent (DSA) model.
• Fellows Creative Academy Seminars and lectures led by active professional creators, delivered nationwide in-person and online, providing learning and networking opportunities for creative professionals.
• Corporate Training (企業研修) Customized practical training programs for creative roles and bespoke organizational development training designed to address specific corporate challenges; cumulative participation reported at 1,500.
• Fellows Creative Staff Singapore Pte. Ltd. Singapore-based wholly owned subsidiary providing worker dispatch, direct hire, and subcontracting services that connect Japanese and ASEAN creative professionals with regional opportunities.
• Fellows Hawaii Inc. Hawaii-based wholly owned subsidiary supporting Japanese professionals obtaining J1 and E2 work visas, offering placement, onboarding, and ongoing life-support services in the Hawaiian creative market.
• Sushi Restaurant 鮨 野儀 Upscale sushi restaurant operated by FELLOWS, serving seasonal ingredients prepared by skilled artisans and functioning as a community gathering space for creators.
• Japanese Dining 和 のぎ Japanese dining venue with a curated selection of rare sakes and tranquil ambiance, serving as an event space and community hub for local residents and creatives.
• FELLOWS Bistro&Bar Bistro venue accommodating private gatherings and events, used as a venue for FFF-S screenings and CREATORS COMPLEX activities.
• CREATORS COMPLEX Online community service for creators providing always-available video courses, offline seminars, and events that foster both learning and networking connections.

Quantifiable outcome

• 69,000 registered creative professionals served
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• aMi inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPhotographer matching service partnership providing online matching between 3,000+ professional photographers and clients seeking photography services. The collaboration enhances FELLOWS' creative service offerings.
• デジタルハリウッドSTUDIOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Digital Hollywood STUDIO locations in Aomori, Chiba, Yokohama, Hiroshima, Matsuyama, and Yonago to support creators seeking employment, job changes, and skills development.
• シント＝トロイデンVV (STVV)minorOthersOfficial sponsor of Belgian football club STVV, supporting young Japanese players' development in Europe. Part of FELLOWS' social contribution and international youth development initiatives.
• 株式会社ディグ&フェローズcoreOthersRelated company for film production. Notable works include '追憶' (2017), 'とんび' (2022), '峠 最後のサムライ' (2022), 'ファミリア' (2023), 'STEP OUT にーにーのニライカナイ' (2025).
• 京都国際学生映画祭minorGTM or Marketing PartnerFestival co-sponsorship supporting student and young filmmaker development.
• 東京アニメアワードフェスティバルminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFestival sponsorship supporting anime industry and emerging animators.
• 東京学生映画祭minorGTM or Marketing PartnerFestival sponsorship for student filmmakers.
• 渋谷佐世保TANPEN映画祭minorGTM or Marketing PartnerFestival sponsorship supporting short film creators.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Indeed: Global job search and recruitment platform owned by Recruit Holdings, dominating online job listings in Japan. While not a direct creative-staffing peer, Indeed's scale and self-serve model represent the technology-enabled competitive vector against which FELLOWS's relationship-based model must defend.
• Recruit Holdings: Global HR technology and staffing conglomerate operating Indeed, LinkedIn (formerly), and major Japanese staffing brands. Operates at vastly greater scale than FELLOWS, with technology-enabled matching platforms that increasingly overlap with creative talent placement.
• Persol Holdings: Japan's largest staffing company with comprehensive temporary staffing, permanent placement, and HR consulting services. A dominant incumbent serving all major verticals including creative/IT, competing for enterprise clients with broader portfolios and greater technology investment than FELLOWS.

Emerging players

• WDB Holdings: Japanese staffing firm specializing in life sciences R&D personnel. Comparable in the specialization strategy (deep vertical focus vs generalist competition) though operating in an entirely different industry vertical, making it a useful strategic analog.
• Timee Inc. Japanese gig-economy app focused on short-term hourly staffing across hospitality, logistics, and light industrial work. Represents the technology-enabled, mobile-first evolution of Japanese staffing, illustrating how platform-based models could eventually reshape FELLOWS's market.
• BizReach Inc. Japanese direct placement and executive search platform for mid-career and senior professionals. Comparable as a Japanese online recruitment platform with a different segment focus, representing the broader tech-enabled competitive landscape in Japanese HR services.

Direct peers

• Levtech (Leverages): Major Japanese freelance platform focused on IT engineers and web/digital creative professionals. Directly competes with FELLOWS in placing creative talent (designers, engineers, directors) with corporate clients, with overlapping target customer segments in web and digital content.
• Pasona Inc. One of Japan's largest generalist staffing and HR services firms, with strong temporary dispatch and placement operations across multiple verticals. Comparable to FELLOWS in B2B staffing model and Japanese market focus, though FELLOWS is specialized in creative while Pasona operates across broader industries.
• Creators Match: Japanese freelance platform dedicated specifically to creative professionals including designers, illustrators, video editors, and animators. Closely comparable niche specialization to FELLOWS's creative-industry focus, serving similar talent pools and corporate clients.
• GEEKS Inc. Japanese freelance platform specializing in IT and creative engineers, including designers, directors, and game developers. Closely comparable to FELLOWS in serving creative freelancers, with similar target talent pool and enterprise clients in Japan's digital content sector.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fellowsca201312

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FELLOWS