“Management’s Aspirations” features interviews with managers who have overcome various challenges and explores the values they hold as leaders as well as the goals they seek to achieve through their businesses. In our third installment, we speak with Issei Haga, President of Unite Holdings, about the company’s future challenges, together with perspectives from investment professionals in charge Haruki Goda and Masashi Takahira.

About Unite Holdings

Founded in February 2024 as a full holding company of UPPGO, Inc., which provides digital marketing through proprietary media for large enterprises, and ZOOST, Inc., which offers listing ad management and website production for mid-sized and small businesses. Both companies are recognized as specialist firms supporting client growth through digital marketing, including having been certified as Google Premier Partners, a designation awarded to the top 3 percent of advertising agencies in each country among Google Partners.

Portfolio

ーPlease tell us about the business content and strengths of UPPGO and ZOOST, the two companies under Unite Holdings.

Haga　UPPGO is a digital marketing company that traces its origins to a company founded in 2010 by Takayasu Hirakawa, now COO of Unite Holdings. Hirakawa is a specialist who generated significant profits from performance marketing, a marketing approach in which advertising fees are incurred based on results, starting from his student days. Based on his extensive know-how, the company mainly supports the marketing of large enterprises through customer acquisition via comparison media in the HR and financial sectors.

Among comparable media, there are those that attract users through advertising and those that rely on SEO, with the former being more prominent. In the former case, for example, the flow is that you spend 100 million yen on advertising, and after the results are approved several months later, 110 million yen is paid in. Without the ability to reliably generate profits, this is an extremely risky business. In that respect, we have been doing this continuously since 2010, or even since the 2000s before Hirakawa incorporated the business, and we believe that this first-mover advantage is a major strength.

ZOOST is also a digital marketing company, but its customer base and areas of expertise differ from those of UPPGO. Its predecessor was a company called Eena, founded in 2007, which has handled ad operations for more than 3,000 mid-sized and small businesses and produced landing pages to improve advertising effectiveness. The company belongs to what could be called the next generation after the so-called Bit Valley IT startups, and from early on it has supported companies across a wide range of industries. Its strength lies in its broad knowledge, spanning everything from medical beauty clinics to real estate, cosmetics, and even long-established rice cracker shops.

ーWhat kind of synergies have emerged now that two companies with different characteristics are under the same holding company?

 Haga　UPPGO is made up of specialists who focus exclusively on digital marketing, while ZOOST excels at front-line operations, with marketers also handling client relations. By leveraging each company’s strengths, we are seeing an increasing number of collaborative cases, such as dividing responsibilities for the same client and proceeding in a project-based manner.

In recent years, Google’s AI Overview feature has begun displaying AI-generated summaries at the top of search results, and as a result, customer acquisition methods are shifting from SEO to AIO, or AI search optimization. In response, ZOOST has started offering services for article creation and owned media production designed to be selected by AI, with UPPGO supporting the more technical aspects. Google’s AI Mode, which generates answers like ChatGPT when you search, has also launched in Japan. With ongoing technological advances, we strongly feel the need to broaden the range of solutions we offer. That is why we are taking on new initiatives every day to maximize the synergy between the two companies.

ーYou joined UPPGO in 2021 and became president in less than a year. Could you tell us how that came about?

Haga　My career started as an engineer, and after that I experienced a variety of roles, including sales at a staffing company, planning listing ads at Yahoo, and launching new businesses at Livesense. There was also a period when I ran a web customer acquisition business as a freelancer. I met Mr. Hirakawa during that time and thought he was an impressive person, but at the time we were on different paths.

I joined UPPGO after he consulted me, saying that he wanted to launch new businesses to expand the company. I was gradually moving toward a business development oriented career, and I felt that joining would allow me to apply the culmination of my experience.

However, my experience working at a range of companies from startups to listed firms was valued, and as a result I ended up handling corporate planning rather than being directly on the business side. I never imagined that I would become the president. Since Mr. Hirakawa is a specialist and I am more of a generalist, I think that was the most balanced structure for driving UPPGO’s management.

ーIn April 2024, you formed a capital alliance with JAFCO, and Unite Holdings was established as the full holding company of UPPGO and ZOOST. What strategy lay behind the decision to place Tokyo-based UPPGO and Osaka-based ZOOST under a holding structure?

Haga　By the time I became president of UPPGO in 2021, we were already in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We implemented various measures, but we could not avoid a downturn in performance, and under the leadership of the PE fund that was our shareholder at the time, a sale process began. In the midst of that, we were fortunate to meet JAFCO, who proposed a roll-up style M&A to create a holding company by combining UPPGO with ZOOST, then called Eena, which was also backed by JAFCO. At the time, UPPGO had a narrow business scope, and I felt that it would be difficult to pursue further expansion in its existing form. The strategy proposed by JAFCO was unexpected, but extremely attractive.

ーWhen the roll-up strategy was proposed, what impression did you have of ZOOST?

Haga　UPPGO is good at creating its own media and generating profits, but because agencies intervene between us and client companies, we face the difficulty of not directly seeing the clients whose critical marketing efforts affect their sales. ZOOST, on the other hand, works directly with clients. I quickly envisioned how we could grow by leveraging each other’s strengths.

ーAfter the holding company structure was realized in 2024, you were appointed as the representative of the holding company and both subsidiaries. What was the first thing you worked on under the new structure?

Haga　First, I spent a lot of time at ZOOST in Osaka and conducted one-on-one meetings with all employees. I had experienced PMI, or post-merger integration, in a previous role, so I understood the general process, but each company and its employees are different. I wanted to properly understand how they felt about their work and what challenges they perceived.

What became clear was an issue with the organizational structure. At the time, aside from two department heads, everyone was a general employee, making it a flat organization where new hires could not easily ask questions, seek advice, or grow alongside senior colleagues through something like on-the-job training. Believing this needed improvement for future expansion, the first step was to introduce roles and make the organization more vertical.

UPPGO, on the other hand, is better suited to a model where each individual performs at their maximum rather than one that emphasizes winning as an organization, so we deliberately avoided strong organizational structuring. Performance had already recovered and was on track, so we focused on management that built on UPPGO’s strengths. I used to think that roll-ups worked best when combining similar companies, but now I believe there can be a holding company model that values each company’s unique strengths. We envision a future where both companies maintain their individuality while collaborating and growing together.

ーMr. Goda and Mr. Takahira became responsible for Unite Holdings in 2025, and JAFCO is currently providing support with a four-person team. Could you tell us about each person’s role?

Goda　I serve as an outside director, but we have not set strict divisions of roles among the four of us. We all participate in important meetings and think through issues together. Among us, Mr. Takahira is the one most deeply involved on the ground and communicates most closely with the team.

Takahira　Yes. I spend about half of each week at the UPPGO office, so it feels less like I am from JAFCO and more like I have become an employee of the Unite group. I work closely with the staff and operate almost like a special assignments officer directly under Mr. Haga in my role as head of the president’s office. I am doing my utmost to contribute by fully leveraging my experience in financial institutions.

Haga　With this level of involvement on the ground, it really feels like we’re moving the company together. I used to think that PE funds were entities you had to be careful around due to their position, but with everyone at JAFCO, I can consult openly about anything and even use them as a sounding board. That said, it is not that I am not being considerate at all (laughs).

ーIt sounds like you have built a strong partnership as you grow the company together.

Haga　Yes. JAFCO often uses the keyword “accompany,” and that is exactly right. For example, in recruitment support, their recruitment experts have worked hard, and recently we were able to hire a business division head at ZOOST. In terms of sales support as well, they are working with us to design service offerings that leverage JAFCO’s unique network.

I used to strongly feel that a management position is lonely, but they accompany us so closely that I do not feel that way at all, which is very reassuring.

Goda　Thank you. I joined the PE fund industry after working at an audit firm and a consulting firm, and I joined JAFCO because I wanted to support companies of a tangible scale through an “accompanying” approach. So hearing that means a great deal to me, and I strongly hope to continue valuing that stance going forward.

ーHow do the two of you at JAFCO view Mr. Haga’s management style and the potential of Unite Holdings?

Goda　My first impression of Mr. Haga was that he is friendly and gentle. When we first met, I had just joined the company and was a bit nervous, but he spoke to me casually and eased my tension. I am sure he faces many worries and hardships as a manager, but he is always positive and has a mindset of turning crises into opportunities. My impression is that he has also been positively accepted as the new president by everyone at ZOOST.

A new start inevitably comes with some pain, but in Unite’s case, I feel it’s a good kind of pain that’s aimed at future growth. I want Mr. Haga to keep moving forward with confidence in that future. We hope he will share any challenges he faces with us, no matter what they are, so that we can move ahead together.

Takahira　I feel that Mr. Haga is a manager who excels at drawing out employees’ opinions and driving the business forward as a team, based on the belief that “the answers are to be found on site.”

The market size for internet advertising is said to exceed 3 trillion yen, making it a business that is inseparable from our daily lives. Trends change quickly, and it is an industry where you must constantly take on new challenges. By leveraging Unite’s unique knowledge and products, I believe it is entirely possible for the group to become a leading company in the industry, and I want to continue taking on that challenge together.

ーWhat initiatives will you focus on as the holding company grows going forward?

Haga　First, we need to make the organizational structure we put in place at ZOOST function in practice. At the same time, both companies need to create new businesses and services. When you have core businesses that generate cash right in front of you, the field naturally tends to focus on those, but as Mr. Takahira mentioned earlier, growth requires taking on new challenges and spreading our wings.

There are ideas emerging along various axes, but what I want to prioritize is offering new services that leverage our own assets. In the HR field, for example, we have our own system that diagnoses which job change agents are suitable for job seekers. I think there is still room to utilize this further, such as by offering it to other media.

ーThrough corporate growth, what kind of society do you hope to realize? Please tell us your long-term vision.

Haga　More than 99 percent of Japanese companies are small and mid-sized enterprises, and there are many excellent small and mid-sized companies in the IT industry as well. However, there are still very few Japan-origin IT companies competing globally, and unfortunately there remains a vague perception that joining GAFA is “cooler.” I have always felt a sense of discomfort about that.

Many companies lack some of the components needed for growth, such as being technologically strong but weak in sales. If Unite Holdings could become something like a collective of such companies and ultimately challenge the global market, I think that would have tremendous value. Each company would leverage its own strengths and sharpen its edge, while growing as part of a collective. What we are doing now with UPPGO and ZOOST is something I hope to realize on a much larger scale in the future.

ーFinally, please share a message for future members who may join Unite Holdings.

Haga　The question of which industry you belong to is very important in building a career. Our company operates in growth-oriented segments within the IT industry, which has strong future prospects. We also offer an environment that welcomes people who want to learn IT from now on. If there are people who are currently in a different industry and feel stuck, I would encourage them to take on the challenge.

Goda　We are now in a phase where we will strengthen recruitment and our organization toward growth. We will do our utmost to accompany Unite Holdings, so we look forward to welcoming those who want to grow themselves together with the company.

Takahira　I think this is an environment where you can learn a great deal by supporting the marketing of clients of various sizes and industries. Our employees come from diverse backgrounds, and we have a culture that welcomes new challenges. If you want to grow while being stimulated every day, please come and work with us.

<For recruitment information, please refer to the following>

Comment from JAFCO

The internet advertising market has expanded rapidly against the backdrop of society’s digital transformation. In recent years, market trends have begun to shift, with a move from SEO to AIO also in view. Under these circumstances, Unite Holdings has integrated two digital marketing companies, UPPGO and ZOOST, each with different strengths, and is generating synergies through mutual complementarity. By leveraging the unique know-how of both companies, the group is leading the industry from the front lines. Going forward, it will establish a competitive advantage in the market by further expanding market-in solutions. JAFCO will continue to accompany the group as a strategic partner and, through UPPGO and ZOOST, will help resolve the challenges of an even greater number of clients.