What SOEL does

SOEL (ソエル株式会社) is a Tokyo-based social media marketing agency founded in October 2021 by CEO Yuki Okazaki and headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. The company operates three service lines: restaurant promotion (influencer marketing and content production for restaurant operators), travel promotion (focused on inbound tourism, particularly Taiwanese travelers to Japan, under Head of Travel Takayuki Hiroi), and Buzzate (a dedicated creative production division for video and design content). SOEL maintains a network of 12,000+ restaurants and holds official agency relationships with Japan's largest restaurant review platform 食べログ (Tabelog) and the Chinese cross-border consumer platform 大衆点評 (Dianping), giving it privileged promotional access on both ends of the Japan-China dining and tourism flow. The company additionally self-operates a restaurant in Osaka (中華然彩 森本), establishing vertical integration that provides direct operational feedback into service design for restaurant-side clients.

The business model is a services-and-agency model: SOEL earns revenue through marketing service fees, influencer campaign execution, and creative production engagements billed to restaurants, hotel chains, restaurant chains, and tourism destinations. Named enterprise clients include hotel chain 西鉄ホテルズ (Nishitetsu Hotels), restaurant chains つるとんたん (Tsurutontan) and Ogawaya, and tourism destination Yokohama Serina. Pricing appears to be project- and campaign-based rather than multi-year committed enterprise contracts, which favors breadth of engagements over per-customer stickiness. The company is bootstrapped — no funding rounds are disclosed — and has publicly targeted an IPO in 2028, with the November 2025 CFO hire (Daiki Naganawa) and April 2024 Managing Director (Takashi Iijima) and Director (Natsuro Abe) appointments consistent with that trajectory.

Operationally, SOEL positions itself at the intersection of Japan's restaurant industry, inbound tourism, and Chinese cross-border consumer demand. The Tabelog and Dianping dual-agency status, combined with the Buzzate production capability and inbound-travel focus, define a distinct niche that competes against broader digital marketing agencies and platform-agnostic influencer firms, rather than against either platform directly. The company does not disclose revenue, headcount, or ARR, and there is no mention of proprietary AI/ML technology, patents, or research output in the available data — its core differentiation rests on platform relationships, network scale, and content production execution rather than on technology stack or data assets.

Name

SOEL

Legal name

ソエル株式会社

Website

https://soel-tokyo.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Short description

SOEL (ソエル株式会社) is a Tokyo-based social media marketing agency founded in 2021 that runs restaurant promotion, inbound travel promotion, and creative production (Buzzate) services for Japanese restaurants, hotel chains, and tourism destinations, with official agency status on Tabelog and Dianping.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Media Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Market Research, Analytics & Consumer Insights (BPAFAAAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

App Store Optimization (ASO) & Mobile Growth Marketing (MPAAACAI)

Keywords

• Social media marketing
• Restaurant digital marketing
• Tourism marketing services
• Influencer campaign management
• Hospitality SNS agency

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. SNS Marketing Agency Services: Fees for managing social media accounts (Instagram, TikTok), running ad campaigns, and providing ongoing consulting. Services are sold as retainer or project-based engagements to restaurant and tourism clients.
2. Advertising Platform Commissions (食べログ, 大衆点評): SOEL acts as an official agent for 食べログ and 大衆点評, earning commissions on ad placements and premium listing packages sold to restaurant clients.
3. Influencer Dispatch Fees: Fees for sourcing and dispatching aligned influencers to client locations for PR content creation. Influencer matching fee or campaign fee structure.
4. Creative Production (Video, Photo, Design): Fees for producing promotional videos, photography, graphic design (logos, print materials, web design, social media filters). Includes broadcast-quality editing.
5. Proprietary Restaurant Operations: SOEL directly operates a restaurant (中華旬彩 森本 in Osaka) to demonstrate and validate its own marketing methodologies, generating food & beverage revenue.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SOEL is a Tokyo-based social media marketing agency providing full-stack digital marketing services for the restaurant and tourism/hospitality industries. The company operates three divisions: Restaurant Promotion (SNS management, influencer dispatch, MEO, Tabelog/Dianping platform management, advertising), Travel Promotion (Instagram management, video/photo production, Taiwan-focused inbound tourism support), and Buzzate (in-house video, photography, and design production). Services span strategy design through execution as bundled retainer or project engagements.

Product overview

SOEL is a social media marketing agency providing comprehensive digital marketing services across three main divisions: Restaurant Promotion (レストランプロモーション), Travel Promotion (トラベルプロモーション), and Buzzate (creative/production). The Restaurant Promotion division offers Tabelog agency services, Dianping (大衆点評) management, MEO services for Google Business Profile, social media management, advertising operations, and influencer deployment specifically for food service businesses. The Travel Promotion division provides similar services tailored for the tourism industry including Taiwan-focused inbound support, photography/video services, Instagram management, and influencer marketing for hotels and travel destinations. The Buzzate division delivers in-house creative production including photography, video editing, creative content design, and graphic design services. SOEL operates primarily as a managed service agency rather than a software platform, providing end-to-end support from strategy planning through execution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Restaurant Promotion Services (レストランプロモーション) Full-stack SNS and digital marketing services designed for restaurant chains and food service businesses, covering SNS management, review site optimization, MEO, advertising operations, and influencer dispatch. Supports a network of over 12,000 restaurants including chains operating 1,000+ stores.
• Tabelog Authorized Agency (食べログ正規代理店) Official Tabelog agency service providing guidance page optimization and sales-conversion-focused pathway design for restaurant clients to maximize bookings from Japan's largest restaurant review platform.
• Dianping Operations (大衆点評運用代行) Official management agent services for Dianping, China's largest restaurant review platform, helping Japanese restaurants and hotels target Chinese tourists visiting Japan through Chinese-language content management, advertising, and review response.
• MEO Services (Google Business Profile Optimization) Google Business Profile optimization services including information control, store posts, review responses, and multilingual support for inbound visitors to improve local search discoverability.
• Media up (Reservation Media Optimization) Gourmet media optimization service covering information updates, effectiveness analysis, web creative, reservation settings, and plan reviews to maximize customer acquisition from restaurant media platforms.
• SNS Operations for Restaurants (SNS運用代行) Social media management and content creation services for restaurant industry accounts (Instagram, TikTok), handled by industry-specialized professionals on retainer or project basis.
• Advertising Operations for Restaurants (広告運用代行) Advertising campaign management for restaurants, including strategy design, execution, and analysis based on extensive case experience across digital ad platforms.
• Influencer Dispatch for Restaurants (インフルエンサー派遣) Influencer deployment services for restaurants, matching optimal influencers based on user behavior analysis within social platforms to maximize audience fit and campaign ROI.
• Travel Promotion Services (トラベルプロモーション) End-to-end SNS and digital marketing services specialized for the tourism industry, covering strategic planning from conception through execution for hotels, ryokan, and travel destinations.
• Taiwan-Focused Inbound Support (台湾特化インバウンド支援) Taiwan-specialized inbound tourism support covering strategy design from awareness to spread, targeting Taiwanese visitors without dependency on overseas OTAs.
• Advertising Operations for Tourism (広告運用代行) Advertising operations for tourism clients, providing optimal delivery strategy design and comprehensive execution-to-analysis support across digital ad platforms.
• Influencer Dispatch for Tourism (インフルエンサー派遣) Tourism-industry-focused influencer deployment, identifying effective influencers who deliver measurable results for hotels and tourism destinations through industry-specialized matching.
• Instagram Operations for Tourism (Instagram運用代行) Instagram account management for tourism industry clients, handled by platform-specialized professionals for hotels, ryokan, and travel destinations.
• Buzzate (Video Production / Design Production) In-house creative production division delivering video filming, photography, editing, and graphic design services for restaurants, hotels, and corporate clients. Staff includes professionals with 800,000+ combined social media followers and broadcast/film production backgrounds.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1.7x monthly visit increase for Thai restaurant via Instagram ads + Tabelog funnel
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers17 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

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Noren株式会社 (ノレン)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2024Noren Corporation, led by SOEL's Representative Director 岡崎祐樹, operates the hairstudy platform — a video education platform for beauty professionals. SOEL publishes news about hairstudy's service updates (15-day free plan launch). While related via shared leadership, they appear as distinct corporate entities under common control.
• 食べログ (株式会社カカクゴン)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSOEL is a 食べログ official authorized agency (正規代理店), reselling and managing 食べログ advertising placements and premium listing packages for restaurant clients. This partnership is a core revenue channel enabling SOEL to offer end-to-end restaurant digital marketing including platform ad management.
• 大衆点評 (Dianping/Meituan)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSOEL is an official 大衆点評 management agent (運用代行), enabling Japanese restaurants and hotels to advertise on China's largest restaurant review platform to target Chinese tourists visiting Japan. SOEL provides Chinese-language content management, advertising, and review management as part of this service.
• 株式会社ワイズテーブルコーポレーションminorGTM or Marketing PartnerListed as a trading partner. Multiple former executives from ワイズテーブルコーポレーション have joined SOEL's leadership team (飯島崇, 阿部夏朗), suggesting an ongoing business relationship or alumni network supporting client referrals.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• model press (モデルプレス / Net Alice): Japanese entertainment/lifestyle media and SNS marketing operations provider focusing on female demographics. Comparable in SNS content/influencer operations though skewing more toward fashion and beauty than F&B/tourism.

Direct peers

• Hotlink (ホットリンク): Listed SNS analytics and marketing agency in Japan covering social listening, influencer marketing, and SNS operation. Comparable to SOEL in service breadth though broader across verticals.
• tetemarch (テテマーチ): Tokyo-based SNS marketing agency (now part of D2C group) offering Instagram/TikTok strategy, influencer marketing, and creative production. Most directly comparable to SOEL in vertical depth and service bundling, though less focused on F&B/hospitality exclusivity.
• digital intelligence (デジタルインテリジェンス / DI): Japanese boutique digital marketing firm offering paid social, SEO, and influencer marketing. Comparable to SOEL on the performance marketing and SNS ad buying side, though less F&B-vertical-pure.
• Venture Bank (ベンチャーバンク): Japanese influencer marketing agency operating the Influencer Match platform, comparable to SOEL's influencer dispatch service line though less verticalized on F&B.
• with respect: Japanese SNS marketing agency specializing in retail and F&B brands, offering SNS operations, influencer casting, and creative production. Closely comparable to SOEL in target verticals and one-stop positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Septeni Holdings (now Consolidated with Digital Holdings): Major Japanese digital advertising holding group with strong SNS, influencer (Septeni Japan), and creative production arms. A scaled peer overlapping with SOEL across most service categories.
• i-mobile (アイモバイル): Listed Japanese mobile/in-app and SNS advertising platform with agency services. Overlaps with SOEL on the platform-side ad-placement and agency management model.
• ADK Marketing Solutions (ADK MS): Major Japanese advertising agency group (formerly Asatsu-DK) offering full advertising services including digital, SNS, and creative production. Overlaps with SOEL on ad-buying and SNS capabilities as part of a much broader portfolio.

Others

• NIT (エヌアイティ / NIC): Japanese digital agency offering SNS operation support, MEO, and review response management — closely adjacent to SOEL's MEO service line as a complementary tooling provider.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soel-inc
• Instagraminstagram.com/soel_recruit

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 SOEL