What Future Design Lab Co., Ltd. does

Future Design Lab Co., Ltd. is a privately held Japanese firm founded on August 31, 2007, headquartered in Shiroyama Trust Tower, Minato-ku, Tokyo, and operating four distinct business lines. The flagship is the FDL Plan, a multi-company corporate defined contribution pension plan (総合規約型年金規約) under which FDL acts as plan sponsor and end-to-end administrator for Japanese SMEs — handling plan design, regulatory filing with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, employee orientation, enrollment, and ongoing operations, in partnership with Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance (co-selling) and Nomura Trust Bank (asset custody). As of July 2026 the FDL Plan had 671 joined companies across all 47 Japanese prefectures, with approximately 90% of clients having 100 or fewer employees; revenue is generated through a one-time setup fee plus a monthly per-enrollee subscription.

The second business line is Jobtopia, a foreign talent recruitment service that specializes in Mongolian professionals and is supported by FDL's own Japanese language schools in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (opened November 2015) and Sakaide City, Kagawa Prefecture (opened October 2021), with revenue earned on placement fees. The third line is HR and management consulting — covering organizational reform, personnel system design, sales and marketing advisory — supplemented by commissions from central government ministries (Ministry of Education, METI) and local governments for public-interest projects such as athlete career transition support. The fourth is a career support program for university students, foreign nationals, and athletes.

Underlying the DC business is a web-based pension administration platform with a member-facing portal (investment allocation, asset viewing, financial education video access) and a free online simulation tool used for SME lead generation; in July 2026 the company released DeCoMOSS (デコモス), a proprietary DC business support system to handle corporate client administration. The firm is founder-led by Chairman Keiji Takehara and President Takayuki Soga (both ex-Recruit and Tokyo University), holds Privacy Mark (JIS Q 15001:2023) and Tokyo Sustainable Work Company (Mira Waka) certifications, and operates without disclosed external institutional shareholders or funding rounds.

Name

Future Design Lab Co., Ltd.

Legal name

株式会社フューチャー・デザイン・ラボ

Website

https://futuredesignlab.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Future Design Lab is a Tokyo-based private Japanese firm operating the FDL Plan corporate DC pension for SMEs (671 client companies), Jobtopia foreign talent recruitment focused on Mongolian professionals, HR and management consulting with government-commissioned projects, and career support programs for students and athletes.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Pension Administration Services

NAICS

Pension Funds (52511), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Employer Retirement Plan Advisory (401(k)/Pension) (FSAEABAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Retirement Plan Participant Advice & Managed Accounts (FSAEABAF), Retirement Benefits & Social Security/Medicare Planning (FSAEABAI)

Keywords

• Defined contribution pensions
• Foreign talent recruitment
• HR consulting services
• Career support programs
• Pension plan administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Minato

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. 企業型選択制DC制度導入支援サービス (FDLプラン): FDL operates a multi-company pension plan (総合規約型年金規約) and provides end-to-end DC plan administration services — including plan design, regulatory filing with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, employee orientation sessions, enrollment processing, and ongoing operations support. Revenue is generated through an initial setup/consulting fee (規約基本料・導入コンサルティング料) and a monthly per-enrollee administration fee. The company partners with Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance for co-selling and Nomura Trust Bank as asset custodian.
2. 外国人人材紹介サービス (Jobtopia): Foreign talent recruitment service specializing in Mongolian professionals. FDL operates Japanese language schools in Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar) and Japan (Kagawa), and provides full-cycle recruitment services including candidate screening, visa sponsorship, and post-arrival settlement support. Revenue is generated via placement fees charged to client companies.
3. 人事・経営コンサルティング: Consulting services for mid-tier companies and ventures covering sales/marketing, organizational reform, HR system reform, and talent arrangement. Additionally, FDL is commissioned by central government ministries and local governments for public projects, including athlete career support programs.
4. キャリア支援プログラム: Career support programs for university students, foreign nationals, and athlete talent. Services include internship matching, career counseling, and dual-career support. Revenue models include program fees from universities and companies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Future Design Lab Co., Ltd. operates a multi-company corporate defined contribution (DC) pension plan framework (FDL Plan) that enables Japanese SMEs to offer retirement benefits without establishing their own pension plan, providing end-to-end administration including plan design, regulatory filing, employee orientation, enrollment, and ongoing operations. The company additionally provides foreign talent recruitment services focused on Mongolian professionals (Jobtopia), HR and management consulting for mid-tier companies and ventures, and career support programs for university students, foreign nationals, and athletes.

Product overview

Future Design Lab Co., Ltd. operates as a multi-service provider offering four core business lines: (1) FDL Plan for corporate defined contribution pension implementation support, (2) Jobtopia for foreign talent recruitment, (3) HR/management consulting and government commissioned projects, and (4) career support programs for students, foreign workers, and athletes. The company recently launched DeCoMOSS as a new DC business support system in July 2026. Services are primarily targeted at small-to-medium enterprises in Japan.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FDLプラン (FDL Plan): Corporate defined contribution pension plan service for small and medium enterprises
• Jobtopia (ジョブトピア)
• キャリア支援プログラム

Products and services

• FDL Plan (企業型選択制DC制度導入支援事業) Multi-company corporate defined contribution (DC) pension plan that enables Japanese small and medium enterprises to offer retirement benefits without establishing their own pension plan. Provides end-to-end administration including plan design, regulatory filing with the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, employee orientation, enrollment processing, and ongoing operations support. Generates revenue through an initial setup/consulting fee and a monthly per-enrollee administration fee. Partners with Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance for co-selling and Nomura Trust Bank as asset custodian. Zero company contribution cost under the chosen DC framework; provides tax-deferred asset accumulation and social insurance premium reduction for both employers and employees.
• DeCoMOSS (デコモス) — Enterprise DC Business Support System Proprietary DC business support system released on July 1, 2026 for handling administrative operations for corporate defined contribution pension plans for FDL's client companies. Internal differentiation lever supporting operational efficiency versus competitors relying on third-party pension administration platforms.
• Jobtopia (ジョブトピア) — Foreign Talent Recruitment Service Foreign talent recruitment service specializing in Mongolian professionals for Japanese companies. FDL operates Japanese language schools in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (since November 2015) and Sakaide City, Kagawa, Japan (since October 2021) to support Japanese language training for candidates. Services include candidate pre-screening, visa sponsorship, and post-arrival settlement support, with revenue generated via placement fees charged to client companies. The company holds a registered support institution license (No. 25登-012150) and a paid employment agency license (No. 13-ユ-305158).
• HR and Management Consulting (人事/経営コンサルティング・官公庁受託事業) Consulting services for mid-tier companies and ventures covering sales/marketing, organizational reform, HR system reform, and talent arrangement. Additionally commissioned by central government ministries and local governments for public projects, including athlete career support programs (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry).
• Career Support Program (キャリア支援プログラム) Career support programs for university students, foreign nationals, and athlete talent. Services include internship matching, career counseling, and dual-career support for junior and retired athletes. Revenue models include program fees from universities and companies. Includes international student job fairs co-hosted with Sophia University and Takushoku University as part of the foreign talent career pathway.

Quantifiable outcome

• 671 companies have joined the FDL Plan as of July 2026, up from over 600 companies in June 2025
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• 上智大学 (Sophia University)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 March 2019FDL co-hosted a job fair for international students at Sophia University in March 2019, part of the career support program for foreign talent. Also held similar events at Takushoku University.
• Various Japanese companies accepting Mongolian internsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 March 2019FDL partners with Japanese engineering and manufacturing companies that accept Mongolian vocational students for internship programs as part of the foreign talent career pathway.
• あいおいニッセイ同和損害保険株式会社 (Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Co., Ltd.)coreGTM or Marketing PartnerAioi Nissay Dowa is the co-selling partner for FDL Plan. The insurance company leverages its network of SME corporate clients to introduce FDL's corporate DC plan services. FDL and the insurer jointly provide one-stop DC plan setup and administration services. The partnership enables FDL to access a broad channel of referral leads across Japan.
• 野村信託銀行株式会社 (Nomura Trust Bank, Ltd.)coreTechnology or IntegrationNomura Trust Bank serves as the asset management institution (資産管理機関) for FDL Plan pension assets. Employee-members manage their investment allocations through an online platform, with all assets custodied by Nomura Trust Bank. This institutional partnership is essential for regulatory compliance and asset custody.
• 拓殖大学 (Takushoku University)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFDL collaborates with Takushoku University for international student career fairs as part of the career support program.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• freee K.K. Cloud accounting, HR and payroll platform purpose-built for Japanese SMEs and solo entrepreneurs. Adjacent to FDL's SME-focused service portfolio: a freee-style platform that bundles payroll could plausibly absorb DC administration or pension-related workflows, making freee an emerging competitive threat alongside Money Forward DC.
• Leverages, Inc. Recruiting and HR-services firm with a portfolio of media-driven job boards and specialized staffing (IT engineers, healthcare, foreigners). Comparable to FDL's Jobtopia foreign-talent recruitment line as an emerging player with significant overlap on placement-fee-driven recruitment into Japanese employers.

Others

• BayCurrent Inc. Pure-play management consulting firm serving Japanese enterprises on strategy and operations. Comparable on the consulting axis of FDL's business mix (HR systems reform, organizational design, government-commissioned projects), although BayCurrent operates at materially larger engagement scale.

Direct peers

• BizReach, Inc. Operates BizReach (mid-career recruitment) and HRMOS (HR cloud for SMEs) — directly comparable to FDL's combination of mid-market talent/career support with SME-oriented HR services. Particularly relevant to FDL's career-support and consulting business, with overlap on targeting Japanese SMEs facing workforce challenges.
• Money Forward K.K. Money Forward operates a cloud DC service (Money Forward クラウドDC) for SMEs to set up and administer corporate defined contribution pensions. Directly comparable to FDL's FDL Plan because it targets the same Japanese SME segment with a software-led DC administration model, including enrollment and ongoing operations.

Broad incumbents

• Nissay Asset Management Corporation: Asset management arm of Nippon Life Insurance and one of the largest DC plan administrators in Japan, offering both corporate DC recordkeeping and participant investment menus. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the same employer-facing DC market where FDL operates, though at materially larger scale and across all employer sizes.
• Mynavi Corporation: Major Japanese recruiting and HR-services firm operating new-graduate job boards, mid-career placement, and temporary staffing. Comparable to FDL's career-support and recruitment services as a broad incumbent that overlaps on university-student career programs and Japanese employer job-fair formats where FDL also operates.
• Persol Holdings Co., Ltd. Major Japanese staffing and HR-services group (Temp Holdings / Persol) operating across temporary staffing, placement, and career support. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the recruitment and career-support space where FDL's Jobtopia and career-support programs compete, with substantially larger scale and broader geographic reach.
• Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Large Japanese HR-services and information conglomerate, where both of FDL's founders previously worked for 16-28 years. Comparable for the recruiting and HR-services overlap (Recruit operates Indeed Japan, RGF Staffing and other talent platforms) but operates at much larger scale and across broader customer segments than FDL's Jobtopia service.
• Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, Limited: Major Japanese life insurer with a corporate DC plan business serving employers across size tiers. Comparable as a broad incumbent competitor to FDL Plan with deeper balance sheet, larger distribution through insurance brokers, and an established participant portal — competing for the same SME employers from the incumbent side.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/401k.FDL

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries2 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 Future Design Lab Co., Ltd.