LongWave
LongWave is a Tokyo-based Japanese professional services firm founded in 2022 that places bilingual engineers, provides outsourced sales support, advises on SME M&A, and delivers bilingual IT contract development. It serves Japanese enterprises and SMBs in real estate, construction, HR, and digital sectors.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What LongWave does
LongWave株式会社 is a privately held Japanese professional services company founded in February 2022 by Representative Director Koga Yuki (古賀勇輝) and headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, with a branch in Fukuoka. The company operates four business lines: (1) Engineer Introduction (エンジニア紹介), a licensed paid-employment placement service (license 13-ユ-314616) that matches bilingual and foreign-nationality engineers with Japanese employers on a success-based fee; (2) Sales Support (営業支援), an HR-domain-specialized outsourced sales service covering strategy design, appointment acquisition, business negotiation, and contract closure, leveraging a database of more than 1,000 registered sales professionals and an 800-person face-to-face visit sales team; (3) M&A Support (M&A支援), a registered intermediary service for SME business succession and growth transactions, compliant with the Small/Medium M&A Guidelines (3rd edition, August 2024); and (4) Contract Development (受託開発), custom IT development for domestic and international clients using a bilingual engineering team. The sales support division has spawned vertical sub-brands for real estate, construction, visit sales, and foreign-worker recruitment, with documented case-study outcomes including 35+ business negotiations per month and 40%+ appointment-to-order conversion for named clients.
LongWave makes money through a mix of transaction-based fees (engineer placement commissions), monthly subscriptions for sales support starting at approximately ¥200,000/month for entry tiers and custom-priced enterprise engagements, case-by-case M&A advisory fees, and individual quotations for contract development. Go-to-market is sales-led and consultative: the company relies on direct website inquiries, a 2-business-day response commitment, industry-specific landing pages, client logo and case-study social proof, LinkedIn outreach, and inside-sales plus field-sales execution. Customer segments are mid-market and SMB Japanese firms in real estate, construction, HR/staffing, and digital technology. Capitalization is modest at ¥25 million in registered capital, the company is founder-owned, and no external institutional funding is disclosed. As of March 2025, LongWave opened a new office, announced a partnership, and launched additional service offerings, indicating active expansion.
LongWave firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- LongWave
- Legal name
- LongWave株式会社
- Website
- https://longwave.co.jp
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- LongWave is a Tokyo-based Japanese professional services firm founded in 2022 that places bilingual engineers, provides outsourced sales support, advises on SME M&A, and delivers bilingual IT contract development. It serves Japanese enterprises and SMBs in real estate, construction, HR, and digital sectors.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
LongWave industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Professional Services (Staffing, Sales Outsourcing, M&A Advisory, IT Development)
- NAICS
- Management Consulting Services (54161), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742), Services-Management Services (8741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Global / Multi-Country RPO (BPACABAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs) (BPAHAOAG)
Keywords
Where LongWave is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tokyo
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices2 records
Markets served
LongWave business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Engineer Placement (人材紹介): Success-based fee model where commission is charged when a placed candidate officially joins the company. Fee rates and contract conditions are provided upon inquiry. Licensed employment placement service (有料職業紹介) with permit number 13-ユ-314616.
- Sales Support Services (営業支援): Provides HR-domain specialized sales outsourcing services. They serve as an external sales department for clients, handling sales strategy design, appointment acquisition, business negotiations, and results creation. Revenue comes from service fees based on support scope and team structure, quoted individually.
- M&A Advisory (M&A支援): Neutral and fair intermediary services for SME M&A transactions. Supports both sellers and buyers for business succession and growth strategies. Fee structure varies by case and is explained individually before contract, following Small M&A Guidelines.
- IT Contract Development (受託開発): Custom IT development services tailored to client business strategies. Bilingual team handles both domestic and international projects. Pricing based on project scope, team structure, and development requirements, quoted individually.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Success-based engineer placement with commission upon candidate joining |
| Subscription | Monthly | Three-tier sales support plans: Trial, Standard, and Enterprise |
| Other | Multi-year contract | M&A advisory fees vary by case |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom IT development quotes based on project scope |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
LongWave product offering
Product offeringCore offering
LongWave株式会社 is a Japanese professional services firm that provides four core offerings: (1) success-fee engineer placement focused on bilingual and foreign-nationality candidates for Japanese companies; (2) HR-domain specialized sales outsourcing covering strategy design, appointment setting, negotiations, and deal closure; (3) neutral M&A advisory for SME succession and growth; and (4) custom IT contract development delivered by bilingual teams for domestic and overseas projects. The company connects global talent with Japanese enterprises and supplies external sales execution to under-resourced firms.
Product overview
LongWave is a Japanese professional services company offering a portfolio of four core services: Engineer Introduction (人材紹介), Sales Support (営業支援), M&A Support (M&A支援), and Contract Development (受託開発). The Sales Support division operates under the brand 'エイギョウブ' with specialized sub-services for real estate (エイギョウブ for 不動産), construction (建設のエイギョウブ), and on-site visit sales (訪問エイギョウブ), plus a foreign worker recruitment support service (ジョブカイタク). The company focuses on connecting global talent with Japanese companies, providing bilingual support across all service lines.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Engineer Introduction (エンジニア紹介) Success-based bilingual and foreign-nationality engineer placement service for Japanese companies facing IT talent shortages. Matches candidates on both technical skill and cultural fit, operated under licensed employment placement (13-ユ-314616).
- Sales Support (営業支援 / エイギョウブ) HR-domain specialized sales outsourcing service covering sales strategy design, appointment acquisition, business negotiations, and results achievement. Backed by a database of 1,000+ registered sales professionals and offered in Trial, Standard, and Enterprise monthly tiers starting from ¥200,000/month (tax excluded) for the real estate vertical.
- M&A Support (M&A支援) Neutral and fair M&A intermediary service for small-to-medium Japanese enterprises, supporting business succession and growth strategies. Registered under the national M&A Support Organization Registration System and compliant with the Small/Medium M&A Guidelines (3rd edition, August 2024).
- Contract Development (受託開発) Custom IT contract development service aligned with client business strategies. Bilingual specialist team provides customized solutions using the latest technologies for both domestic and international projects, with English-language communication capability.
- Real Estate Sales Support (エイギョウブ for 不動産) Real estate industry-specific sales support sub-service. Provides property owner, investor, and management company outreach through telemarketing, visits, and form marketing to create new business development opportunities for vendors selling into the real estate vertical.
- Construction Sales Support (建設のエイギョウブ) Construction industry specialized sales outsourcing sub-service. Industry-understanding sales team supports new transaction development targeting general contractors, subcontractors, and local builders, overcoming designated-vendor barriers.
- Visit Sales Support (訪問エイギョウブ) On-site visit sales support sub-service for deals requiring face-to-face relationship building. Designs visit strategy and executes in-person business development when online-only approaches are insufficient, backed by an 800-person visit-sales team.
- Job Kaitaku (ジョブカイタク) — Foreign Worker Recruitment Sales Support Sales support sub-service for foreign worker (specified skilled worker / foreign talent) recruitment and recipient-company development. Targets care, food service, and manufacturing industries with industry-specific outreach to companies accepting foreign workers.
Quantifiable outcome
- 100社以上 supported companies
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use LongWave
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles6 records
LongWave technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
LongWave partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators11 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
LongWave competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Wantedly: Japan-based recruitment platform emphasizing company culture fit and engineering talent. Emerging player overlap with LongWave's engineer placement line, particularly in startup and tech hiring, with stronger consumer brand among younger engineers.
Direct peers
- BizReach: Japan's leading direct-recruitment platform for white-collar and bilingual professionals. Direct peer to LongWave's engineer placement line, particularly in the bilingual/mid-career segment, with a much larger candidate database and stronger employer brand.
- en Japan: Japan-focused recruitment and HR services firm operating multiple job platforms (en Engineer, en Wedding). Direct peer to LongWave's engineer placement business, particularly in mid-career tech hiring, with a stronger brand and deeper candidate funnels.
- M&A Research Institute: Tech-enabled Japanese M&A intermediary focused on SME transactions. Direct peer to LongWave's M&A Support line, using AI/data tools to match buyers and sellers — overlaps in target customer and service model, but operates at larger scale with more capital.
- Nihon M&A Center: Japan's largest dedicated SME M&A intermediary. Direct peer to LongWave's M&A Support line: both serve Japanese SME owners with business succession transactions, operate under the government's M&A Support Organization Registration System, and compete for the same shrinking pool of owner-retiring SMB sellers.
- Robert Half Japan (parent: Robert Half International): Japan operations of the global professional staffing firm, focused on finance, IT, and bilingual white-collar placement. Direct peer to LongWave's bilingual engineer placement line, with global brand recognition and a deeper pool of foreign candidates.
- TechnoPro Holdings: Japan's largest engineer staffing/SES firm. Direct peer to LongWave's engineer placement and contract IT development lines, particularly for technical bilingual/foreign engineers, with a deep nationwide branch network and public-company balance sheet.
- M&A Capital Partners: Tokyo-based M&A intermediary specializing in SME succession deals. Direct peer in LongWave's M&A Support business — both target Japanese SME owners without successors and compete head-to-head for mandates, with M&A Capital Partners operating at meaningfully larger scale.
Broad incumbents
- Recruit Holdings: Japan's largest HR services group spanning staffing, recruitment (Indeed, BizReach co-investment), and HR technology. Broad incumbent peer across LongWave's engineer placement and sales support lines — does not specialize in any single niche but dwarfs LongWave in scale, capital, and brand.
- Pasona Group: Large Japanese staffing and HR services group covering temporary staffing, placement, BPO, and global talent. Broad incumbent across LongWave's engineer placement and sales support lines, with established foreign-talent programs (Pasona Inc.) directly competing for the same bilingual engineer segment.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
LongWave social profiles
Digital presenceLongWave compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
LongWave financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
LongWave leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
LongWave funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
LongWave M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about LongWave
What does LongWave do?
LongWave株式会社 is a Japanese professional services firm that provides four core offerings: (1) success-fee engineer placement focused on bilingual and foreign-nationality candidates for Japanese companies; (2) HR-domain specialized sales outsourcing covering strategy design, appointment setting, negotiations, and deal closure; (3) neutral M&A advisory for SME succession and growth; and (4) custom IT contract development delivered by bilingual teams for domestic and overseas projects. The company connects global talent with Japanese enterprises and supplies external sales execution to under-resourced firms.
Is LongWave a public or private company?
LongWave is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was LongWave founded?
LongWave was founded in 2022. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is LongWave based?
LongWave is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does LongWave make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Engineer Placement (人材紹介) is the primary driver. The others are sales Support Services (営業支援), M&A Advisory (M&A支援) and IT Contract Development (受託開発).
Who are LongWave's main competitors?
Wantedly is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are BizReach, en Japan, M&A Research Institute, Nihon M&A Center, Robert Half Japan (parent: Robert Half International), TechnoPro Holdings and M&A Capital Partners. Broad incumbents are Recruit Holdings and Pasona Group.
Does LongWave have an API?
No public API is recorded for LongWave.
What industry is LongWave in?
LongWave's product category is Professional Services (Staffing, Sales Outsourcing, M&A Advisory, IT Development). Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACABAE, Global / Multi-Country RPO, with a secondary code of BPAHAOAG, Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs). Its NAICS code is 54161 and its SIC code is 8742.