Celebrain

What Celebrain does

Celebrain (株式会社セレブレイン) is a Japanese HR and organizational consulting firm founded in October 2000 and headquartered in Tokyo (Sanno Park Tower, Chiyoda-ku) with an Osaka office opened August 2025. The firm operates a portfolio of consulting services organized into six core areas: HR Strategy Consulting, IPO/M&A Consulting, HR Transformation, Executive Headhunting, Human Resource Development/Training, and Benchmark Surveys. Under these categories, Celebrain offers 15+ specialized modules including engagement surveys, human capital management aligned with ISO30414, HR KPI dashboards, talent management system implementation, HR technology advisory ("HR technology sommelier"), benchmark surveys, and an AI/ML-driven People Analytics service for high-performer prediction and retention risk modeling. The firm sells through a consultative, project-based B2B sales motion targeting large Japanese enterprises, with fees quoted per engagement following an initial interview and proposal cycle.

Celebrain's customer base spans large publicly listed Japanese corporations across broadcasting (J-WAVE), personal care (Fine Today Shiseido), retail (JINS), financial services (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation), real estate (Mitsui Fudosan, Mitsubishi Estate, Daiwa Life Next), electronics/manufacturing (I-PEX, Omron Healthcare), telecom/media (Risk Monster), HR services (Recruit, Tsunagu Group Holdings), and other industries. Documented case engagements include a complete HR system reform with new compensation framework for J-WAVE, post-carve-out HR infrastructure build for Fine Today Shiseido following its separation from Shiseido, and IPO preparation for an unnamed healthcare/nursing services company of approximately 5,000 employees. Celebrain claims over 1,000 cumulative consulting engagements.

In January 2022 Celebrain entered a strategic business and capital alliance with Frontier Management Co., Ltd., which placed two directors and one auditor on the board; the firm subsequently relocated its Tokyo headquarters to Sanno Park Tower in January 2023, opened an Osaka office in August 2025, and closed three additional strategic partnerships between April 2024 and January 2026 — Tsunagu Group Holdings for RPO, MS&AD InterRisk for SSBJ human-capital disclosure advisory, and both Ageha (recruitment branding) and O f All (executive compensation) in January 2026. Revenue, financials, and headcount beyond the 11–50 band are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Celebrain

Legal name

株式会社セレブレイン

Website

https://celebrain.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Celebrain is a Japanese HR and organizational consulting firm (founded 2000) that provides HR strategy, IPO/M&A advisory, HR transformation, executive search, training, and benchmark survey services to large Japanese enterprises.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

HR and Organizational Consulting Services

NAICS

Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

People Analytics, Assessment & Psychometrics Consulting (BPAHAGAH)

Keywords

• HR consulting services
• Executive headhunting
• HR transformation advisory
• IPO M&A consulting
• Organizational development

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. HR Consulting Services: Celebrain generates revenue through consulting engagements across six service areas: HR Strategy Consulting, IPO/M&A Consulting, HR Transformation, Executive Headhunting/Recruitment, Talent Development & Training, and Benchmark Surveys. Services are sold on a project basis to enterprise clients. Engagements typically involve multi-step processes from initial inquiry, interview, proposal, contract, and kickoff. Fees are quoted on a per-project basis based on scope and complexity. The company also offers ongoing advisory relationships and long-term consulting support (e.g., multi-year HR transformation projects).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Celebrain is a Japanese HR and organizational consulting firm that designs, implements, and supports enterprise HR system reform across six core service areas: HR Strategy Consulting (organizational diagnosis, performance-based grading, engagement), IPO/M&A Consulting (HR due diligence, PMI, IPO HR infrastructure), HR Transformation (HR technology adoption, talent management systems, people analytics, HR KPI dashboards), Executive Headhunting/Recruitment (retainer and success-based search), Talent Development & Training (management training, action learning, business skills), and Benchmark Surveys (compensation and HR system benchmarking). Services are sold on a per-engagement basis to Japanese enterprises and include proprietary frameworks (e.g., 'Triple Ladder'), the ProfileXT assessment tool, ISO30414 human capital reporting, AI-driven people analytics, and the co-developed 'Analytical Thinking' training program.

Product overview

Celebrain operates as a consulting firm offering a portfolio of human resources and organizational consulting services, organized into six core service areas: HR Strategy Consulting, IPO/M&A Consulting, HR Transformation, Headhunting, Human Resource Development/Training, and Benchmark Surveys. Within these core areas, individual sub-services and modules are offered as distinct branded offerings — including Engagement Surveys, Human Resource Assessment, IT Skill Surveys, Human Capital Management (ISO30414), People Analytics, HR KPI Dashboards, Talent Management System Implementation, HR Technology Advisory, HR System Benchmark Surveys, Compensation Benchmark Surveys, Action Learning Sessions, Business Skills Training, Management Training, and HR Development System Design. The portfolio functions as a platform-plus-modules architecture where foundational consulting services (HR Strategy, IPO/M&A, HR Transformation, Headhunting, Training, Benchmarks) serve as the core offerings, supplemented by specialized sub-modules that can be engaged independently. The service model is primarily consulting-led, augmented by proprietary diagnostic frameworks, assessment tools (ProfileXT), BI/dashboard tools, and AI/machine learning capabilities for people analytics. Celebrain also offers a knowledge platform through its media site (人事とテクノロジーとワインと) featuring columns, case studies, and industry commentary.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HR Strategy Consulting (人事戦略コンサルティング) Consulting for Japanese enterprises covering organizational diagnosis, HR system design, engagement improvement, management capability building, data-driven decision-making, and DX-oriented organization construction. Includes proprietary frameworks such as the 'Triple Ladder' role-based grading and 'Fitting Analysis' executive assessment.
• IPO/M&A Consulting (IPO・M&Aコンサルティング) Consulting supporting Japanese companies through IPO preparation and M&A transactions, including HR/labor due diligence, labor-management improvement, HR policy development, executive compensation design, and post-merger integration (PMI) of HR systems.
• HR Transformation HR transformation services covering HR technology concept design, talent management system implementation, people analytics, HR KPI and dashboard creation, and human capital management (ISO30414) consulting.
• Executive Headhunting (ヘッドハンティング) Executive and professional search services including retainer-based headhunting and success-based recruitment to identify and place key talent at executive, middle-management, and professional levels for Japanese enterprises.
• Human Resource Development and Training (人材開発・教育研修) Talent development and training services including HR development system design, management training, business skills training, action learning sessions, and the co-developed 'Analytical Thinking' training program targeting next-generation business leaders.
• Benchmark Surveys (ベンチマーク調査) Benchmark survey services covering compensation/salary benchmarking and HR system benchmarking to assess client competitiveness against industry peers; includes compensation tables, salary curves, position-level hiring benchmarks, bonuses, and fringe benefits comparisons.
• Analytical Thinking Training Program (アナリティカルシンキング) Data-driven problem-solving training program for AI-era business leaders, jointly developed with Exploratory, Inc. (San Francisco, CA) combining Exploratory's data science expertise with Celebrain's HR consulting experience. Trademark application filed. Targeted at training 1,000+ next-generation business leaders annually.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000 consulting engagements completed
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• O f All Inc. (O f All株式会社)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 January 2026Business partnership formed January 2026. O f All specializes in executive compensation design, stock incentive plans, and stock option structures. The partnership enables Celebrain to offer comprehensive support from executive compensation strategy through HR system design and DX implementation, maximizing the effectiveness of organizational change initiatives.
• Ageha Inc. (株式会社揚羽)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2026Business partnership formed January 2026. Ageha (TSE Growth: 9330) specializes in recruitment branding. The partnership targets companies undergoing transformation (M&A, DX, structural change) and provides integrated support from strategy to execution in organizational change initiatives.
• MS&AD InterRisk Research & Consulting (MS&ADインターリスク総研株式会社)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 July 2025Joint webinar partnership on SSBJ (Sustainability Standards Board) human capital disclosure standards. MS&AD InterRisk contributed expertise on SSBJ risk/opportunity analysis while Celebrain provided human capital management implementation guidance for Japanese companies preparing for SSBJ-aligned disclosure requirements.
• Tsunagu Group Holdings, Inc. (株式会社ツナググループ・ホールディングス)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 April 2024Business partnership formed April 2024. Celebrain and Tsunagu Group collaborate on recruitment consulting and RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing). The partnership enables Celebrain to offer end-to-end HR solutions by combining its HR strategy expertise with Tsunagu Group's recruitment process execution capabilities.
• Talenta, Inc. (タidenta株式会社)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 May 2023Celebrain co-hosted a webinar with Talenta titled 'Offensive People Management in the Era of Human Capital Management' featuring Banpresto Amusement and Explorance (Canada). Celebrain contributes expertise in human capital management strategy while Talenta provides its Blue360 pulse survey platform.
• Frontier Management Co., Ltd. (フロンティア・マネジメント株式会社)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 January 2022Strategic business and capital partnership established January 2022. Frontier Management invested capital and appointed two directors (松岡真宏 as representative director and 矢島政也 as director) and one auditor (濵田寛明) to Celebrain's board. The partnership aimed to expand solution offerings and create synergies by combining Frontier's management consulting capabilities with Celebrain's HR consulting expertise.
• Exploratory, Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2018Celebrain and Exploratory, Inc. (San Francisco, CA, CEO西田勘一郎) co-developed 'Analytical Thinking' — Japan's first training program on a data-driven problem-solving framework for AI-era business leaders. The partnership combined Exploratory's data science expertise with Celebrain's HR consulting experience to deliver training targeting next-generation business leaders, aiming for 1,000+ annual trainees.
• Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. (三井不動産株式会社)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2018Celebrain participates as a business support partner in Mitsui Fudosan's '31 VENTURES' venture co-creation initiative. As a partner, Celebrain provides organizational and HR consulting expertise to startups and growth-stage companies within the 31 VENTURES ecosystem.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Willis Towers Watson (WTW): Global advisory firm offering HR, risk, and benefits consulting with operations in Japan. Comparable on HR consulting and people analytics engagements.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search and leadership consulting firm. Comparable in executive search and leadership advisory, with established Japan presence.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm offering executive search, talent consulting, and RPO. Comparable in executive search, leadership advisory, and broader HR consulting categories.
• RGF HR Consulting Japan: Japan-based arm of Recruit's global RGF HR consulting network providing HR consulting, search, and HR advisory services. Comparable cross-border HR consulting competitor.
• Mercer (Marsh McLennan): Global HR consulting arm of Marsh McLennan, providing HR strategy, rewards, and benefits consulting worldwide including Japan. Comparable on HR strategy and human capital advisory.
• Recruit Holdings (HR Solutions): Japan's largest HR services group encompassing recruitment, staffing, and HR consulting via Indeed, RGF, and other brands. Comparable on Japanese enterprise HR services ecosystem.

Direct peers

• Egon Zehnder: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm with significant Japan operations. Directly comparable on Celebrain's headhunting and executive assessment services.
• Link and Motivation Inc. Tokyo-headquartered, TSE-listed HR and organizational consulting firm providing motivation engineering, HR consulting, survey, and training services. Closest direct peer — similar mid-market to large-enterprise Japanese client base and overlapping service portfolio.
• People Focus Consulting (PFC): Japan-based HR consulting firm offering HR strategy, organizational consulting, training, and HR technology advisory. Direct competitor in the Japanese enterprise HR transformation space.
• Wadman Co., Ltd. Japanese HR and mid-career recruitment consulting firm focused on organizational consulting for SMEs and mid-market. Comparable domestic peer in Japanese HR consulting market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/celebraincorp

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 Celebrain