株式会社つなぐ

What 株式会社つなぐ does

株式会社つなぐ (Tsunagu Inc.) is a Kyoto-based, founder-led recruitment consulting firm founded in November 2022 by Hijiri Taguma, specializing in direct scouting and employer branding for Japanese manufacturing companies (the 'mono-zukuri' sector). The firm addresses chronic hiring difficulties and high agency-cost dependency among manufacturers — typically firms lacking dedicated HR recruitment staff — by providing two complementary services: success-fee-based scout-recruitment outsourcing (スカウト職人, launched June 2025) and an employer-branding and recruitment-restructure offering (採用リノベ, launched July 2025) that articulates a client's culture and identity and builds internal self-sufficient recruitment capability rather than permanent outsourcing.

Operationally Tsunagu functions as a sales-led, content-and-community-augmented direct consultancy with a fully remote team of 14 employees headquartered in Seika-cho, Kyoto. Its go-to-market combines a free-consultation website funnel, an active content track on note.com and X/Twitter, and sponsored offline events such as the 採用ウルトラキャンプ. Pricing is split between outcome-based fees for successful placements and subscription/project-based fees for branding engagements, with free initial diagnostics as the lead-conversion mechanism. Geographic focus is the Kansai region with nationwide online reach; named customers include listed enterprise GS Yuasa plus several mid-market and SMB manufacturers across batteries, slit processing, construction/renovation, metalwork, and plastic film. The firm holds a Japanese paid-employment-agency license (有料職業紹介事業者免許) and reports a cumulative track record of 300+ supported candidates and 7 years of founder/domain experience.

Name

株式会社つなぐ

Legal name

株式会社つなぐ

Website

https://tsunagu-hr.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

株式会社つなぐ is a Kyoto-based, founder-led recruitment consultancy that provides scout-outsourcing and employer-branding services to Japanese manufacturing firms lacking dedicated HR hiring capability, using success-based and project-based pricing and serving enterprise, mid-market and SMB accounts across the Kansai region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Recruitment Consulting Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Recruitment Marketing & Employer Branding for RPO (BPACABAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Employer Brand Strategy & Talent Branding (BPAFAEAH), Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops) (BPACAKAG)

Keywords

• Recruitment consulting
• Manufacturing hiring
• Employer branding
• Scout recruiting
• Direct recruiting

Headquarters

HQ city

Kyoto (精華町)

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. スカウト採用代行（スカウト職人）: Success-based fee model where clients pay only when valid candidates are acquired or hiring decisions are made. If recruitment goals are not achieved, no costs are incurred. Services include candidate sourcing, outreach, casual interviews, screening support, and recruitment platform selection.
2. 採用ブランディング（採用リノベーション）: Project-based or ongoing consulting engagement for employer branding services. Includes company identity articulation, persona design, recruitment content creation (job postings, websites, video, articles), and SNS setup/support.
3. 媒体相性診断・求人添削・課題分析: Initial consultation services provided free as a trial campaign offering. Helps demonstrate value and build trust before converting to paid engagements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

株式会社つなぐ is a recruitment consultancy dedicated to Japanese manufacturing companies (ものづくり企業). It delivers two paid services: (1) スカウト採用代行 (Scout Craftsman), an outsourced scout recruiting service covering candidate sourcing, scout drafting, casual interviews, screening and recruitment platform selection on a success-based fee model; and (2) 採用ブランディング (Recruitment Renovation), a multi-step employer branding service that verbalizes company identity, designs candidate personas, and produces recruitment content (job postings, career sites, videos, SNS setup). Both are grounded in the proprietary 採用4P分析フレームワーク.

Product overview

株式会社つなぐ operates as a manufacturer-focused direct recruitment and employer branding firm, offering two core services. The primary offering is スカウト職人 (Scout Shokunin), a success-based scout recruitment outsourcing service where the company embeds as an in-house HR partner handling the full scouting pipeline. The second is 採用リノベーション (Recruitment Renovation), a three-step restructuring service that first verbalizes company culture through employee interviews, designs mutual-fit candidate personas, and then produces multi-format recruitment content (job listings, career sites, videos, SNS) to build self-sufficient recruitment capability. Both services are underpinned by employer branding and SNS expertise, targeting manufacturing companies seeking to shift from passive to proactive, culture-driven recruitment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• スカウト職人: A specialized scout recruiting agency service for manufacturing companies, offering success-based compensation. Covers recruitment media selection, scout message creation, casual interviews, screening follow-up, persona design, and comprehensive recruiting support.
• 採用リノベーション

Products and services

• スカウト採用代行 (Scout Craftsman) Manufacturer-specialized scout recruitment outsourcing service that operates as an in-house HR partner for client manufacturing companies. Covers recruitment media selection, candidate sourcing, scout message drafting, casual interviews, screening follow-through, and persona design. Pricing is success-based with no charge if valid candidate acquisition or hiring does not occur.
• 採用ブランディング (Recruitment Renovation) Comprehensive employer branding service that fundamentally rethinks manufacturer recruitment through a three-step process: (1) verbalizing company culture via employee interviews using the proprietary 採用4P分析フレームワーク; (2) designing mutual-fit candidate personas; (3) producing diverse recruitment content (job listings, career sites, employee interview articles, company videos, SNS setup/support). Emphasizes building self-sufficient internal recruitment capability rather than ongoing outsourcing.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5 hires in 4 months, approximately 50% joining without competing offers, 40%+ reduction in recruitment agency costs
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• GRANDSLAMminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 16 October 2025Joint sponsorship of the '採用ウルトラキャンプ' (Recruitment Ultra Camp) industry event with co-working space GRANDSLAM. Both companies sponsored as supporting partners for the offline event gathering 100 recruitment professionals.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• ManpowerGroup Japan: Global staffing and recruitment firm operating in Japan, offering temporary staffing, permanent placement, and RPO. Relevant incumbent competing for the same Japanese enterprise and mid-market recruiting budgets.
• Indeed Japan: Operates Japan's largest job-search platform. Competes for Japanese employer recruitment advertising spend and represents the low-cost, self-serve alternative to Tsunagu's consulting-led employer branding model.
• Persol Career (doda): Major Japanese recruitment agency under Persol Holdings, offering placement, scout, and RPO services broadly across industries. Larger, broader portfolio than Tsunagu but competes head-on for mid-market Japanese hiring engagements.
• Pasona: Large Japanese HR services group providing staffing, recruitment, and BPO services across many industries. A broad incumbent with overlapping RPO and employer-of-record capabilities relevant to mid-market Japanese employers.
• Recruit Holdings: Parent of Indeed, Rikunabi, and other major Japanese recruitment brands; a dominant incumbent. Competes indirectly via scale, brand, and platform reach in the same Japanese employer recruitment market.

Direct peers

• en Japan: Operates multiple Japanese recruitment brands (en転職, ミドル転職) with strong mid-market and SMB presence. Competes for similar Japanese employer recruiting budgets, particularly via scout and direct-hire offerings.
• BizReach (Visional): Operates Japan's leading direct-hire/scout recruiting platform targeting professionals and mid-career talent, overlapping directly with Tsunagu's scout recruiting model and target buyer persona (Japanese employers seeking passive candidates).
• Works Japan: Provides recruitment advertising, ATS, and HR SaaS solutions targeted at Japanese SMBs. Comparable in customer segment (smaller Japanese employers) and mid-market recruitment support orientation.
• Akari: Japan-focused employer branding and recruitment content producer serving SMBs and mid-market employers. Closely mirrors Tsunagu's Recruitment Renovation service in producing job content, video, and career site assets for Japanese companies.
• HRog / 工場求人ナビ: Manufacturing-focused job board and recruitment media in Japan. Directly comparable as a manufacturing-vertical recruitment specialist competing for the same mono-zukuri employer budget and candidate pool.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tsunagu_hr
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/%E6%A0%AA%E5%BC%8F%E4%BC%9A%E7%A4%BE%E3%81%A4%E3%81%AA%E3%81%90

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 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 株式会社つなぐ