“I want Japanese companies to reclaim the strength to compete on the world stage.” WEEVA Inc. is a consulting firm burning with that passion. It is a rapidly growing venture that supports corporate growth at its foundation through a unique business model that combines sales support and fundraising support.
We interviewed Takaki Watanabe, Director, and Yoritsugu Koshuya of the company. Why did they leave major corporations to choose WEEVA? And what is the secret that allows inexperienced individuals to become active professional consultants in a short period of time? We took a close look at the “field reality” and “overwhelming growth environment” of WEEVA as it aims ever higher.
Takaki Watanabe
Graduated from the Faculty of Commerce, Chuo University. Joined Nomura Securities Co., Ltd. in 2017, working in individual sales and branch sales support. Founded WEEVA Inc. in 2020. In the founding phase, focused mainly on fundraising support for companies, handling business plan preparation and management strategy design. From 2023 shifted direction to focus on sales enablement — supporting the systematization of sales organizations and maximizing outcomes. Currently oversees the entire consulting business as Director, driving sales strategy support for a wide range of industries including major consulting companies, stock exchanges, prime-listed telecommunications companies, game-related companies, and office furniture sales companies. Under the philosophy of “creating a society where companies can sell through systems,” he is aiming for a world where every company can achieve reproducible growth without relying on person-dependent sales.
Yoritsugu Koshuya
Graduated from the Faculty of Law, Chuo University. After an internship at a major IT company during his student years, launched a student startup, transferring shares upon graduation. Joined Japan M&A Center Co., Ltd. in 2022, working on new business development in the financial alliance division. Joined WEEVA Inc. in 2024. In his current role, handles a wide range of projects across diverse industries — including business plan development support for financial companies, sales strategy planning and execution support for marketing support companies, and sales organization construction for major IT/SaaS companies and consulting firms. His motto is “designing systems that allow companies to operate independently,” extracting challenges from both management and sales perspectives and providing support every day.
The Combination of “Sales × Finance.” What Is WEEVA’s Unique Strength?
— Could you start by telling us about WEEVA’s business?
Watanabe: There are three main areas. The first is a business that supports business plan formulation. Specifically, this includes PMI support after a large company acquires another company, business plan formulation for companies in the launch phase, and requests from long-established companies that want to review their business plans again.
Linked to that business, we also handle a consulting business around fundraising. We work out things like how much can be borrowed given the current state of the company, and then how to structure the financial negotiations from there.
The third is sales consulting. We provide support for negotiations, and also in the further upstream domain of marketing — using both consulting and tool creation in tandem to analyze conversion rates in detail, determine the number of leads needed to capture the projected order count, and identify what actions should be taken to acquire that number of leads. Currently we are often providing support in the form of AI workflow development.
— How are projects run?
Watanabe: For sales consulting, for example, the typical approach is to start with strategy formulation. After that, content creation and workflow development are advanced through a PDCA cycle. These activities take anywhere from two months to about a year. For standard support engagements, projects are driven by a structure of PM, consultant, analyst, and designer.
When formulating a consulting strategy, we may also provide recommendations on how to conduct negotiations and how to create proposal documents. In those cases, a designer creates the proposal documents, and we make a point of providing something usable at the operational level.
Consulting can propose the right answer, but there is often the challenge that it cannot provide the actual answer. A distinctive feature of our approach is that by actually providing samples of consulting outputs — such as proposal materials and sales materials — we lower the execution barrier in the field and support clients in producing results in the shortest time possible.
— So by improving sales accuracy, the result is also an improvement in fundraising ability.
Watanabe: Exactly. By providing “sales support,” “fundraising support,” and “business plan formulation” as a unified trinity, we accelerate client business growth. We craft things down to the level of “using this material will lead to sales,” and accompany clients all the way through to a state where the field can actually execute. Thanks to this, while the basic arrangement is a one-year contract, even in cases where clients start with a three-month trial contract, approximately 75% choose to continue.
From Inexperienced to Professional Through “Systematization” and “AI.” An Environment for Growth at Overwhelming Speed
— The organization is described as small and elite, yet I understand that people without consulting experience are also active. How do they acquire such specialized skills?
Watanabe: That’s correct — many of our employees start without prior experience. Members with completely different backgrounds are active — for example, someone from a university research lab and a former beauty consultant. In particular, the member from that research lab made an immediate impression after joining, and is now handling four listed or pre-listing companies. The evaluations from clients are extremely high, and they have proven that top-level results can be achieved even without prior experience.
— Why is it possible to grow so much in such a short time?
Watanabe: There are two reasons. One is our thorough education system. Rather than “it’s a venture, so you need to be immediately deployable,” we set aside proper time to install the “OS (foundation of thinking)” needed to become someone who can generate revenue — on the premise that inexperienced people will be joining. The other is the AI-based automation and systematization of operations. Everything other than high-level work requiring judgment is made efficient through AI and tools, creating a structure where even inexperienced people can produce high-quality output.
— So there is a mechanism for bringing inexperienced people up to speed early. How do actual projects proceed?
Koshuya: In principle, we work on projects as a four-person team consisting of consultant, PM, designer, and writer. At WEEVA, we don’t just “draw up a strategy” — we collaborate with designers and writers to create specific outputs (proposals and promotional materials). Because we engage in direct dialogue with clients’ presidents and business division heads, and make recommendations across a wide range spanning management strategy through field-level sales approaches, clients are able to develop a capability resembling the “mixed martial arts of business.”
— Being at a small, elite-team phase, there must be many experiences uniquely available here. What kind of mindset do you want in people joining the company?
Watanabe: In a single word: “ambition.” Someone who can objectively analyze their own current state and has the hunger of “I want to go higher” and “I’d be frustrated staying where I am” — regardless of their past background. On academic background and career history, if someone has a middle school or high school graduate background, for example, we would prioritize “professional credentials that clients can trust” such as clear, demonstrable sales results built at a merit-based company.
Koshuya: For me, it’s “spirit of adventure.” WEEVA is right in the middle of a rapid growth phase, and we are taking on one challenge after another that we couldn’t have imagined six months ago — including AI utilization. I want to work with people who can get excited about exploring unknown territory rather than walking a well-prepared track.
Career Changes from Major Finance and M&A Industries — The “Ambition” Behind Founding and Joining
— Could you tell us about your career backgrounds and how you came to join WEEVA?
Watanabe: I joined Nomura Securities as a new graduate and gained experience in BtoC sales and sales support at the head office. That said, my reason for choosing Nomura Securities wasn’t some elevated purpose from the start. In fact, my father’s company had become unsustainable, and the option of “taking over the family business” had disappeared. So I searched “Japan salary rankings” and applied starting from the top. I was desperate — I had to first develop the ability to earn on my own and accumulate capital.
— That was a very pressing situation. What led from there to founding the company?
Watanabe: My grandfather was also a business owner, and I had carried since childhood the desire to “leave proof that I lived in society.” It might surprise people, but I was originally an introverted child who preferred reading books alone and thinking things through. Having continued kendo through university, I may be the type to quietly burn with competitive spirit. This upbringing and my character may well have been what pushed me toward founding a company. After honing my skills at Nomura Securities, I was involved in founding the company with three other Nomura-originated members who shared the same ambition. I currently serve as Director and manage the company together with Representative Director Iga. We started with fundraising consulting, but have since expanded to sales organization construction support, supporting client business growth from multiple angles.
— Thank you. Could you tell us about your career as well, Mr. Koshuya?
Koshuya: During my student days I was involved in an SEO business through an internship, and that experience led me to launch a student startup. Like Watanabe, my grandfather ran a seafood trading company, and growing up watching his back was the origin of my own entrepreneurial aspirations of “someday, I too.” As a new graduate I joined Japan M&A Center seeking a company with “large-company scale yet a venture spirit,” but at a certain point I fell ill, took a leave of absence, and ended up resigning. It was while searching for my next career path that a friend I had met at a cram school during university entrance exam preparation reached out asking me to join WEEVA.
— So it was a connection from an old friend.
Koshuya: Yes. I was strongly drawn to WEEVA’s vision of “raising the value of Japanese companies,” and to the fact that it supports not just consulting but the full picture of the business. I joined in 2024.
The Desire to Raise Japan’s Corporate Value Further — and the Vision for the Future
— What meaning does the company name “WEEVA” carry?
Watanabe: It is a coined word combining “Evolve” and “Value,” carrying the wish to evolve the corporate value of Japan. WEEVA’s greatest characteristic is the connection between “marketing and sales data” and “fundraising.” The reason so many Japanese companies struggle with fundraising is that they cannot present financial institutions with reliable data showing “this investment will generate this much revenue.” We want to support companies facing these challenges, using WEEVA’s strengths.
— Thank you. Finally, could you tell us about the vision for the future?
Watanabe: The plan is to launch a marketing division within this fiscal year and create an overseas expansion support division in the next. We are also aiming for a listing within three to five years. The reason we have set these goals is that I feel Japan currently depends heavily on industries like automobiles, and there are few companies properly earning foreign currency. So we want to increase the number of companies that can compete in the world as BtoB rather than BtoC businesses. We want to grow such companies. By pressing toward these goals, we hope to support many companies that can hold their own abroad.
— Thank you. How about you, Mr. Koshuya?
Koshuya: First I want to support each company carefully one by one, while also further raising WEEVA’s profile to spread our approach throughout Japan as a whole. And I want to make the “sales systems” that WEEVA provides the standard for Japanese companies.
I also want to take on new businesses that go beyond what I can currently imagine. AI, for example, feels like it has evolved at a dizzying pace over the past six months — and I want us to be an organization that keeps thinking ahead of the world’s changes and evolution, devising the next move before it arrives.
【Post-Interview Note】
What came through repeatedly in the words of both interviewees throughout the session was a strong sense of personal ownership — a genuine desire to raise the value of Japanese companies. The style of combining sales support and fundraising support to step into clients’ challenges from the upstream of management issues all the way through to field execution strikes me as a practical form of support that goes beyond conventional consulting.
Because it is a small, elite-team organization, even junior members are given significant autonomy, and the ability to be directly involved in building businesses while engaging face-to-face with business owners is a major appeal. For those who want to grow rapidly through challenge rather than learning in a structured environment — and for those who aspire to become consultants with an entrepreneur’s perspective — this would be an unbeatable field. This is definitely a company where people who want to test their own potential should dive in.
ConsulNext Senior Consultant
Masahito Tsukada
WEEVA Inc. — Company Information
| Address | Circles Nishi-Shinjuku 5F, 3-6-4 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023 |
| Capital | ¥5,000,000 |
| Representative | Representative Director & President: Masaya Iga |
| Business Activities | ・Sales consulting ・Loan support ・Management consulting ・Media business |
