■Business Overview of Circlace <5029>

1. Company Overview

The company is a digital consulting firm that proposes and implements essential DX. Under "Vision 2030," it promotes sustainable management and focuses on creating an environment where employees have responsibility and authority. The mainstay includes support for the introduction and operation of cloud systems, as well as the provision of self-developed cloud systems, and it has a consolidated subsidiary, Aolana Now, which handles the joint venture Circlace HT in Vietnam and ServiceNow-related business. In the future, services utilizing cutting-edge IT Technology will be developed from a Global perspective, primarily centered on AI utilization and data management support. In April 2024, Scott Sato was appointed as the Chairman and CEO. The number of employees reached 338 as of the end of the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2025, an increase of 42 compared to the end of the previous fiscal year, expanding the growth base.

2. History

The company was established in 2012 as a joint venture called Pasona Tequila Co., Ltd., in collaboration with the Pasona Group <2168> and Tquila Ltd., which was based in London, UK at the time (now based in Ireland), targeting the anticipated arrival of the business platform Salesforce in Japan, equipped with features that can broadly integrate functions centered around SFA (Sales Force Automation) and CRM (Customer Relationship Management), aimed at meeting the increasing demand for human resource development. Starting from 2013, it launched education, staffing, and system development businesses simultaneously and entered a growth phase after 2019. It changed its name to Circlace Co., Ltd. in July 2020 and was certified in March 2022 as a certified business in the "DX Certification System*" selected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. In order to contribute to realizing the client's DX and customer success, it newly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market in April 2022, marking its 10th anniversary. In June 2023, a joint venture Circlace HT was established in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) with Hybrid Technologies Co., Ltd. and Growth Link Co., Ltd., both listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market, building a system that can promote large-scale contracted development projects utilizing Vietnam's human resources. In August 2023, Aolana Now, specializing in the ServiceNow business, was established, and in August 2024, an office in Osaka was opened, strengthening the framework for business development in the Kansai region.

* A system established by the government to certify "DX-Ready" companies that have structured their DX promotion, including setting management visions and developing strategies and systems, in accordance with the basic principles of the "Digital Governance Code" established by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry based on the "Act on Promotion of Information Processing."

(Reported by FISCO guest analyst Hiroshi Nakayama)