What Hajimari does

Hajimari Inc. (株式会社Hajimari) is a privately held Japanese company headquartered in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, that operates Freelance Job (フリーランスジョブ), a two-sided marketplace and job-search portal for freelance IT engineers and client companies. The platform aggregates approximately 234,388 IT project and job listings across roughly 100 position types and 40 development languages, with filtering by skill, compensation band, remote/flexible work status, industry (toB, EC, insurance, banking, SaaS), and prefecture. The underlying technology is a web portal (Next.js front-end serving freelance-job.com) backed by a job database, with no proprietary AI/ML matching layer disclosed.

The company monetizes via commission or placement fees on successful freelance contract introductions, supplemented by a human-assisted matching service in which dedicated agents interview candidates, surface matched opportunities, and facilitate introductions to client companies. Specific platform fees are not publicly disclosed, and pricing is positioned as free-to-the-engineer. Compensation benchmarks displayed on the site reflect client-paid project rates (e.g., Java ~¥600K/month, Go ~¥720K/month, AI engineer ~¥810K/month, IT consultant ~¥890K/month), not the platform's own fees. User acquisition is driven primarily by organic SEO on Japanese job-search keyword combinations and a content-marketing engine producing recurring freelance research reports; the agent channel functions as a bottom-of-funnel conversion layer.

Hajimari also operates a portfolio of related talent businesses: IT Pro Partners (IT professional staffing), intee (student IT career platform), and HR University (HR education). The company has been recognized in the FT-Statista High-Growth Companies Asia-Pacific ranking for three consecutive years (2024-2026), placing 338th regionally and 49th among Japanese companies in 2026. No founding date, funding history, management roster, or detailed financials are disclosed in available source material.

Name

Hajimari

Legal name

株式会社Hajimari

Website

https://freelance-job.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Hajimari operates Freelance Job, a Japanese two-sided marketplace aggregating ~234,000 freelance IT project listings across 40+ languages and 100+ roles, monetizing via commission on placements supported by an agent-mediated matching service.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Freelance IT Job Marketplace

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Employment Placement Agencies (561311)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Agent of Record (AOR) / Contractor Engagement Services (BPACAGAB)

Keywords

• IT freelance marketplace
• Freelance engineer portal
• IT project matching
• Online recruitment platform
• Freelance IT staffing

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Commission / referral fees on freelance contract placements: Freelance Job earns revenue by matching freelance engineers with client project needs and facilitating introductions, likely on a commission or placement-fee basis per successful contract. The platform's agent team interviews candidates and presents matched projects, suggesting a human-assisted matching model that monetizes through referral or success fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Hajimari operates Freelance Job (フリーランスジョブ), an online IT project/job search portal for freelance engineers in Japan. The portal aggregates approximately 234,388 project listings spanning 100+ positions and 40+ development languages, allowing engineers to search and apply for IT contracts. The platform also provides agent-assisted matching services that introduce freelance engineers to client companies offering projects.

Product overview

Hajimari Inc. operates フリーランスジョブ (Freelance Job), a freelance engineer-focused IT job search portal platform. The platform enables freelance engineers to search for and apply to IT projects and job opportunities based on criteria such as development languages, unit price, position type, area, and work style. The service provides market price information and aggregates projects across multiple industries including toB, EC, insurance, banking, and SaaS sectors. The platform also publishes research reports on freelance work trends and maintains relationships with related businesses including ITプロパートナーズ, intee, and HR University.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Freelance Job (フリーランスジョブ) Online marketplace portal that aggregates approximately 234,388 IT project listings for freelance engineers in Japan across 100+ positions and 40+ development languages, with agent-assisted matching services that introduce engineers to client companies.

Quantifiable outcome

• Platform serves as the primary portal for Hajimari's portfolio of freelance IT talent services, generating recognition as one of Asia-Pacific's 338 fastest-growing companies.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• IT Pro PartnersminorOthersRelated business operated by Hajimari Inc. alongside Freelance Job. IT Pro Partners (https://itpropartners.com/) is another service in Hajimari's portfolio targeting IT professionals.
• inteeminorOthersRelated student-focused service operated by Hajimari Inc. in the same corporate portfolio as Freelance Job. intee (https://intee.jp/student/) targets students seeking career opportunities in the IT sector.
• HR UniversityminorOthersRelated educational platform operated by Hajimari Inc. in the same corporate portfolio as Freelance Job. HR University (https://hr-university.jp/lp/) provides HR-related educational content and training.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• IT Pro Partners: Sister business within the Hajimari portfolio, focused on IT professional services with a high-touch agent-matching model targeting freelance engineers. Closely comparable because it shares the same parent, customer base, and contractor-engagement mechanics.
• Geekly: Japanese IT engineer-focused staffing and freelance placement agency. Comparable to Freelance Job's agent-mediated contractor engagement model and its specialization in the IT vertical.
• CrowdWorks: Major Japanese crowdsourcing and freelance platform that matches individual contractors (including engineers, designers, and writers) with client projects. Competes with Freelance Job in the Japanese IT freelance matching space.
• Lancers: One of Japan's largest freelance and crowdsourcing marketplaces, with broad coverage across IT, creative, and business tasks. Directly comparable to Hajimari's Freelance Job in serving Japanese freelance professionals with project-based work, though Lancers operates across a much wider scope than IT-only.
• Persistence: Japanese freelance engineer placement platform offering both self-serve job search and agent-assisted matching for IT contractors. Operates in the same niche as Freelance Job with a similar revenue model (commission on placements).

Emerging players

• Forkwell: Japanese developer-centric community and recruitment platform that combines technical content, skill profiles, and job-matching features. Overlaps with Hajimari in the IT engineer talent marketplace category, with a stronger developer-community emphasis.

Broad incumbents

• Bizreach: Japanese recruiting platform primarily targeting mid-career and senior professionals. Operates in adjacent IT talent acquisition territory to Hajimari though its core focus is direct-hire executive and professional placement rather than freelance contracting.
• Recruit Holdings: Japanese HR services conglomerate operating Indeed, LinkedIn (joint venture), and multiple domestic staffing brands. Relevant as a broad incumbent in the Japanese HR/staffing market whose various properties intersect with Hajimari's freelance IT placement business.
• Wantedly: Japanese hiring platform combining employer branding, job listings, and direct recruiting flows. Overlaps with Hajimari where it serves hiring of engineers, though Wantedly's model skews toward permanent roles rather than freelance engagement.
• Upwork: Global freelance marketplace connecting businesses with independent professionals, including a large IT/developer segment. Comparable to Hajimari's marketplace-plus-agent model, though at significantly larger global scale and with broader category coverage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hajimari_recruit

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 Hajimari