What I&CO does

I&CO is a privately held global innovation and brand-transformation consultancy headquartered in New York, with regional offices in Tokyo and Singapore, serving major international enterprise clients across automotive, retail, technology, financial services, and entertainment. Founded in 2015 by Rei Inamoto and Rem Reynolds — former senior leaders at AKQA, R/GA, and Digitas — the firm operates with compact, senior-led teams that deliver five core service areas: brand transformation, consumer digital experience, loyalty and membership programs, B2B and enterprise products, and product development. Engagements span strategy, user research, UX/UI design, service design, and execution, with documented client outcomes including a +30% UNIQLO.com e-commerce YoY increase, +600% OneASICS account creation, 260K Audible Sleep downloads within days, and a $3.8B lift in Toyota stock following the Toyota Next announcement.

Beyond pure consulting, I&CO has developed two in-house digital products — Gifvie, a collaborative video-gifting platform with roughly 70,000 users, and ChooStory, an interactive sustainability-education picture book — and has taken equity-linked design capital positions in partner companies such as Trambellir (where APAC head Norikuni Takamiya serves as Chief Design Officer). The firm also runs thought-leadership channels including Rei Inamoto's "The Intersection" Substack, the bilingual "I&CO Foresight" newsletter, and the "Brand Shift" podcast co-produced with Chronicle.

Revenue is generated entirely through project-based professional services engagements with enterprise clients; pricing is not publicly disclosed and is negotiated per engagement. The firm is registered as I&CO Group LLC in New York, operates without disclosed external institutional funding, and is led day-to-day by its two founding partners alongside a regional bench covering APAC operations, research, and content.

Name

I&CO

Legal name

I&CO Group LLC

Website

https://iandco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

I&CO is a New York-headquartered global innovation and brand-transformation consultancy with offices in Tokyo and Singapore, serving enterprise clients such as Toyota, UNIQLO, Lexus, Audible, and ASICS across strategy, digital experience, loyalty, and product design.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand Strategy Consulting

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Management Consulting Services (54161), Marketing Consulting Services (541613)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Full-Service Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Digital Workplace & Collaboration Consulting (BPAHAEAH), Product Lifecycle, NPI & Industrialization (Design-to-Operate) (BPAHAHAK)

Keywords

• Brand strategy consulting
• Digital experience design
• Innovation consultancy
• Loyalty program design
• Enterprise product design

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consulting and Design Services: I&CO generates revenue through project-based consulting engagements with enterprise clients. Services span brand transformation, consumer digital experience, loyalty programs, B2B product design, and product development. The firm likely operates on retainer or milestone-based fee structures typical of strategic consultancies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

I&CO is a global innovation consultancy that helps enterprise brands become indispensable through five service areas: Brand Transformation, Consumer Digital Experience, Loyalty/Membership & Community, B2B & Enterprise Products, and Product Development. Engagements are delivered by compact, senior-led teams across the firm's New York, Tokyo, and Singapore offices, combining user research, brand strategy, UX/UI design, and service design. The firm also operates proprietary digital products Gifvie and ChooStory and builds AI-powered client experiences such as the UNIQLO IQ chatbot.

Product overview

I&CO is a global innovation firm offering five service areas: Brand Transformation, Consumer Digital Experience, Loyalty/Membership & Community, B2B & Enterprise Products, and Product Development. The company also develops its own digital products including Gifvie (a collaborative video gifting platform) and ChooStory (an interactive sustainability education app). Services include user research, UX/UI design, brand strategy, service design, and product development across retail, mobility, financial services, and public sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gifvie: A video message creation service that allows multiple users to easily create a single video compilation by uploading videos shot with a smartphone. Developed in-house during COVID, it has been used by over 70,000 people.

Products and services

• Brand Transformation Strategic consulting service that builds brand foundations, purpose, and identity systems designed to thrive across multiple markets. Engagements typically include brand strategy, purpose articulation, visual identity, and brand architecture work for enterprise clients.
• Consumer Digital Experience
• Loyalty, Membership & Community
• B2B & Enterprise Products
• Product Development
• Gifvie Gifvie is a collaborative video messaging service that lets multiple users create a single video compilation by uploading smartphone videos through a shared URL. The platform handles management, ordering, and automatic editing without specialized video skills, and offers Gifvie+ premium features including background music, cover designs, and photo slideshows.
• ChooStory ChooStory is an interactive digital picture book that teaches sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals to children through choice-driven storytelling. Each decision introduces SDG-related behaviors in a multi-ending format, with accompanying hands-on workshop materials for families and educators.

Quantifiable outcome

• +30% e-commerce YoY increase for UNIQLO.com redesign
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers12 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ChronicleminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 March 2026I&CO partnered with Podcast Studio Chronicle to launch a new podcast program called 'Brand Shift' on March 10, 2026. The weekly show explores brand management as a core business strategy, featuring I&CO co-founder Rei Inamoto and APAC COO Takashi Maza discussing topics such as trust in the AI era and brand concepts through historical perspectives. The collaboration represents Chronicle's expansion in producing brand-focused audio content for corporate clients.
• Trambellir Sdn BhdcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 March 2024I&CO announced a strategic design capital alliance with Trambellir, a Malaysia-based online booking platform for medical tourism operating in 35 cities across 22 countries. Under this partnership, Norikuni Takamiya (Head of I&CO APAC) was appointed as Chief Design Officer of Trambellir to enhance UI and overall business assets. This represents I&CO's expansion into Asian markets, with the firm having been in contact with over 200 Asian-based startups.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Huge Inc. Global experience design agency offering brand, digital product, and marketing services to enterprises. Comparable to I&CO in customer experience and digital transformation offerings, but at significantly larger scale.
• AKQA: Global design and innovation agency where I&CO's founder Rei Inamoto was previously CCO. Offers brand, digital experience, and product design for major brands (Nike, Google, Audi) — a larger incumbent operating in the same space I&CO targets.
• Pentagram: Independent global design firm with partner-led model. Comparable to I&CO in senior-only creative leadership and brand transformation work, though Pentagram focuses more narrowly on visual identity and graphic design.
• frog (Capgemini Engineering): Global design and innovation consultancy, now part of Capgemini, offering strategy, brand, product, and experience design. Directly comparable service offering to I&CO across consumer and enterprise clients, with much larger global scale.
• R/GA: Global experience design agency where Inamoto previously served as ECD. Provides brand, digital product, and marketing transformation for enterprise clients — a direct competitor and talent source for I&CO.
• IDEO: Pioneering global design and innovation consultancy. Comparable to I&CO in offering brand strategy, digital experience, and product design for major enterprises, but significantly larger and broader in scope across industries and geographies.
• Accenture Song: Global experience and creative services arm of Accenture, combining design, brand, and technology at enterprise scale. Competes directly with I&CO for large brand transformation mandates from Fortune 500 clients.

Direct peers

• Smart Design: Boutique product and brand design consultancy serving global enterprises across consumer and industrial verticals. Closely comparable to I&CO in offering integrated brand strategy, UX/UI, and product development with a senior-led model.
• Ustwo Studios: Global digital product studio and innovation consultancy offering brand, product, and experience design for enterprises. Comparable boutique scale and senior-led model to I&CO, with similar global brand client work.

Emerging players

• ManvsMachine: Independent creative studio working at the intersection of brand, design, and technology for major brands. Comparable boutique creative agency profile with similar senior-led engagement model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/hello.iandco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iandco
• Instagraminstagram.com/hello_iandco
• Xx.com/hello_iandco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 I&CO