RIASEC

What RIASEC does

RIASEC Inc. (株式会社リアセック) is a Japanese career assessment and education company headquartered in Hamamatsucho, Minato-ku, Tokyo, founded in 2006 as a carve-out from Recruit Management Solutions' career business. The company develops and sells psychometric assessment instruments and career education programs, with its flagship PROG (Generics Skills Assessment) holding 75% market share in the Japanese university segment and over 2 million cumulative examinees since launch. Its product portfolio includes PROG (literacy and competency assessment), R-CAP (career aptitude based on the RIASEC occupational personality model), Takunaru (case-method PBL active learning program), Kontore (new-employee training), Card Sort, and specialized variants such as PROG@Work (corporate), PROG Nursing Version, and R-CAP for teens. Underlying technology consists of proprietary psychometric instruments delivered through the PROG My Page web platform, with recent AI additions including the AISATS English Speaking Test (2024) and an AI Advisor chatbot (2026) for career counseling simulation.

The company operates a horizontal segmentation strategy across three primary customer segments: universities and higher education institutions (the dominant revenue base, using PROG for curriculum, FD/SD, and graduate tracking), high schools (via the keinet/Manabi Mirai PASS distribution platform), and corporations (HR/people development, including named clients such as KDDI, Recruit Holdings, Oriental Land, Dentsu Soken, NEC Life Career, and Cosmo Kiki). The go-to-market is sales-led and event-driven, relying on direct enterprise engagement with university administrations and corporate HR departments, supplemented by seminar series, the owned-media portal Career Hiroba, and PROG White Paper publications that double as content marketing. The wholly-owned non-profit research arm JICS (Career General Research Institute, established 2009) provides academic credibility and publishes the White Paper series, while the Pick and Mix subsidiary (November 2019) supports new digital service development.

RIASEC generates revenue from three principal streams: per-examinee assessment tool licensing and recurring institutional contracts (PROG, R-CAP across segments); one-time license fees for career education curricula, textbooks, and active-learning programs; and professional/managed services including CONTRE training, career counseling design, and dispatch of certified career counselors. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is determined through B2B sales consultation on an annual institutional billing cadence. The company holds a Privacy Mark certification, integrates BowNow and Google Analytics for marketing, and is led by founder-CEO Fumiaki Hirata with leadership continuity from Recruit's career business.

Name

RIASEC

Legal name

株式会社リアセック

Website

https://riasec.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RIASEC Inc. is a Japanese career assessment company providing psychometric tools such as PROG (generic skills) and R-CAP (career aptitude) to universities, high schools, and corporations, holding 75% market share in Japan's university assessment segment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Assessment Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAAANAE

Human Resources (HR) & Talent (SHRM/HRCI) Certifications

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Professional Certification Programs

Keywords

• Career assessment tools
• Generics skills measurement
• Career aptitude testing
• Educational assessment services
• Corporate HR assessment

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamamatsucho

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Assessment Tool Licensing and Sales: Sale of assessment test services (PROG, R-CAP, R-CAP for teens, R-CAP for business) to universities, high schools, and corporations. Revenue generated per examinee for test administration, scoring, and reporting. The PROG my page system manages examinee data and result delivery.
2. Career Education Program Sales: Sale of career education programs and curricula including PROG-based educational programs, Takunaru active learning curriculum, and related textbooks and materials.
3. Training and Counseling Services: Co-training programs (コントレ) for new/young employees, career counseling services for individuals, and career development training programs for corporations.
4. Career Counseling Design and Operations: Design and contracting of career counseling operations for educational institutions and corporations, including dispatch of certified career counselors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

RIASEC develops and sells proprietary career assessment and generic skills measurement tools (PROG, R-CAP, R-CAP for teens, R-CAP for Business) primarily to universities, high schools, and corporate HR departments in Japan. The company complements its assessment tools with case-method PBL training programs (Takunaru, Kontore), career counseling services, alumni surveys, and research publications through its non-profit JICS research institute.

Product overview

RIASEC offers a unified platform-plus-modules architecture centered on career self-development assessment and education services. The core platform consists of PROG (generics skills assessment measuring literacy and competency for university students and employees) and R-CAP (career aptitude/self-analysis tool available for university students, business professionals, and high school students). These are extended by specialized modules: PROG@Work and R-CAP for Business for corporate HR use, PROG Nursing Version for healthcare education, and R-CAP for teens for high schools. Adjacent services include training programs (Kontore, Takunalu case-method PBL, career counseling/interviewing, career training), supplementary tools (Card Sort card game, STRENGTH), research services (Alumni Survey/IR, JICS research institute), and information media (Career Hiroba). The PROG White Paper series and co-published books (Manabi Mirai PASS with Kawai Juku) round out the portfolio. Recent additions include an AI-powered AISATS English Speaking Test and AI advisor services. A subsidiary (Pick and Mix, 2019) supports new career education service development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PROG: ジェネリックスキル測定テスト - 大学生・高校生の基礎力を測定するアセスメントツール
• タクナル
• コントレ
• R-CAP
• カードソート
• STRENGTH
• キャリアの広場

Products and services

• PROG (Generics Skills Test) PROG is a proprietary psychometric assessment that measures literacy and competency (the foundational abilities needed to perform any job) across three dimensions: task orientation, self-orientation, and people orientation. Sold to universities, high schools, and corporations for evaluating student and employee generic skills.
• PROG@Work Enterprise-focused variant of PROG designed for measuring and developing employees' generic skills and career orientation, used in talent management and HR data analytics contexts by Japanese corporations.
• PROG Nursing Version (PROG看護版) Specialized version of the PROG assessment adapted for nursing education programs in Japan.
• R-CAP (Recruit Career Assessment Program)

Quantifiable outcome

• 75% market share in Japanese university/college PROG assessment market (2018)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 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

Integration2 records

AI capability6 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Kawai Juku (河合塾)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2011Joint development of PROG (Generics Skills Assessment) with Kawai Juku, launched September 2011. Combines Kawai Juku's educational content expertise with RIASEC's career assessment methodology.
• KEI Advance (株式会社KEIアドバンス)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKEI Advance serves as a sales and administration partner for PROG test distribution, handling customer service, test registration, and data analysis operations alongside RIASEC for certain educational institution accounts.
• Pick and Mix (株式会社ピックアンドミックス)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSubsidiary established in November 2019 to develop new career education services. RIASEC invested in creating new digital and service innovations for career education market expansion.
• Oriental Land CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOriental Land customized Takunaru active learning program for their OLC Career College employee development program. RIASEC provided PROG assessment and Takunaru curriculum adapted for corporate part-time employee training (5-hour x 3-day version).

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• SHL: Global leader in psychometric talent assessment and people analytics providing occupational assessment tools directly comparable to RIASEC's PROG and R-CAP offerings for graduate recruitment and corporate HR.
• en Japan: Major Japanese HR services platform with proprietary aptitude tests for hiring and career services — directly competes with RIASEC's R-CAP for Business and corporate HR products in the Japan market.
• Hogan Assessments: Personality assessment provider for personnel selection and leadership development — direct competitor in psychometric/career aptitude assessment with frameworks highly comparable to RIASEC's R-CAP and PROG@Work.

Broad incumbents

• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm offering talent assessment, leadership development, and HR advisory services that overlap with RIASEC's career counseling, corporate training, and assessment portfolio as part of a much broader franchise.
• Persol Holdings: Japanese staffing and HR services group operating the Doda career platform and talent assessment offerings — directly competes with RIASEC in Japanese HR/talent assessment and corporate training.
• Aon (Assessment Solutions): Aon's Assessment Solutions division provides global psychometric and HR assessment tools (Cut-e, Pymetrics) that compete with PROG/R-CAP as part of a much larger HR consulting platform.
• ManpowerGroup Japan: Japanese operations of ManpowerGroup provide staffing, career assessment, and workforce development services comparable to RIASEC's corporate training and career counseling products.
• Development Dimensions International (DDI): Leadership development and talent assessment specialist with proprietary assessment tools and training programs that overlap closely with RIASEC's PROG@Work, Kontore, and Takunaru active-learning offerings.
• Recruit Holdings: RIASEC's former parent (spun out in 2006), operating major HR/staffing platforms including Indeed and Recruit Agent — both a legacy partner and an indirect competitor in Japanese HR assessment and career services.

Others

• ETS (Educational Testing Service): Global leader in educational assessment (TOEFL, GRE) with deep psychometric research infrastructure — adjacent peer to JICS research activities and PROG assessment methodology, though serving different end markets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/riasec.co.jp

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 RIASEC