For Startups, Inc. · TSE:7089
For Startups — H1 FY03/2027 Earnings Presentation
48 slides from For Startups's earnings presentation, Nov 5, 2026
Slide 1: FY03/2027 H1 Financial Results
FY03/2027 H1 FINANCIAL RESULTS
Slide 2: Executive summary
Executive summary FY03/27 1H results Net sales Operating income Orders 3,079 million yen 947 million yen 3,145 million yen +36.4% YoY +188.3% YoY +17.5% YoY Overview – Performance: New record for first-half results. Revenue and profit both increased significantly, centered on Human Capital Business
Slide 3: Agenda
01 | FY03/27 1H results overview 02 | Performance and business themes by segment 03 | Earnings forecasts and 2H outlook Agenda 04 | Growth strategy 05 | Appendix − FAQ − Supplementary materials
Slide 4: FY03/27 1H results overview
01 | FY03/27 1H results overview
Slide 5: Summary of consolidated results
01 | FY03/27 1H results overview Summary of consolidated results Revenue and profit came in significantly higher. Progress is ahead of plan for all levels of profit FY03/27 FY03/26 FY03/27 FY03/26 YoY YoY 2Q 2Q 1H 1H Unit: Million yen Net sales 1,535 1,142 + 34.5 % 3,079 2,258 + 36.4 % Gross profit
Slide 6: Summary of consolidated results by segment
01 | FY03/27 1H results overview Summary of consolidated results | by segment Human Capital Business drove significant increases in both revenue and profit, while Open Innovation Business also achieved steady growth in profit Venture Capital Business recorded its first sales FY03/27 FY03/26 FY03/27
Slide 7: Factors driving change in operating income
01 | FY03/27 1H results overview Factors driving change in operating income In addition to the rebound from the loss on valuation of operational investment securities recorded in the previous fiscal year, earnings from Venture Capital Business contributed to considerable increase in revenue and prof
Slide 8: Consolidated net sales: Quarterly change
01 | FY03/27 1H results overview Consolidated net sales | Quarterly change Revenue grew strongly year on year. Venture Capital Business recorded its first ever net sales Unit: Million yen + 34.5% 1,674 1,543 1,535 48 YoY 352 110 1,335 127 1,116 1,142 220 1,018 Open Innovation 977 105 113 865 832 55
Slide 9: Consolidated orders received: Quarterly change
01 | FY03/27 1H results overview Consolidated orders received | Quarterly change Although Human Capital achieved a new record for quarterly orders, it came in slightly behind plan. The number of converted placements was stagnant Due to the impact of postponing hosting of conference, Open Innovation
Slide 10: Number of regular employees: Quarterly change
01 | FY03/27 1H results overview Number of regular employees | Quarterly change Due both to strength in recruitment activities and a fall in the number of resignations, headcount came in at 278 people, ahead of initial plans Based on lower productivity (number of converted placements per person) and
Slide 11: Performance and business themes by segment
02 | Performance and business themes by segment
Slide 12: Human Capital Business: Quarterly net sales and orders received
02 | Performance and business themes by segment Human Capital Business | Quarterly change in net sales and orders received Orders came in behind plan, despite growing slightly QoQ. Number of orders fell below expectations but was mitigated by contribution from increase in order unit price Temporary
Slide 13: Human Capital Business: Breakdown of net sales for employee placement service
02 | Performance and business themes by segment Human Capital Business | Breakdown of net sales for employee placement service Unit price perceived to be temporary in 1Q came in at higher than expected levels in 2Q Competition for recruitment of high-level personnel is overheating, and the number of
Slide 14: Human Capital Business: Change in KPIs over time
02 | Performance and business themes by segment Human Capital Business | Change in KPIs over time (parent) Productivity indicator “converted placements per person” fell due to the increase in employees and the expansion of the job- opening portfolio Working to increase productivity by strengthening
Slide 15: Human Capital Business: Named a Hall of Fame headhunter
02 | Performance and business themes by segment Human Capital Business | Named a Hall of Fame headhunter Yohei Yamamoto named Hall of Fame headhunter in “doda X HeadHunter of the Year 2026” sponsored by Persol Career Co., Ltd. Ten years ago, for Startups Representative Director Yuichiro Shimizu was
Slide 16: Open Innovation Business: Quarterly net sales and orders received
02 | Performance and business themes by segment Open Innovation Business | Quarterly change in net sales and orders received STARTUP DB turned in a strong performance. Despite Acceleration being selected as one of the operators of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2027, most of these sales are scheduled for next fis
Slide 17: Open Innovation Business: Operator of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2027
02 | Performance and business themes by segment Open Innovation Business | Became one of the operators of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2027 We have many strengths in the area of startups and innovation, and have been chosen as one of the operators of SusHi Tech Tokyo 2027, which will be held in May 2027 by a co
Slide 18: Venture Capital Business
02 | Performance and business themes by segment Venture Capital Business Due to differences in the timing at which profit and loss are included, net sales for the partial sale of securities announced in June was recorded in 2Q Net profit after excluding fund management fees, etc. will be distributed
Slide 19: Earnings forecasts and 2H outlook
03 | Earnings forecasts and 2H outlook
Slide 20: Full-year earnings forecasts
03 | Earnings forecasts and 2H outlook Full-year earnings forecasts Profit at all levels made good progress, but taking into account the shortfall in orders received in the first half and uncertainties in startup M&A intermediary, earnings forecasts are unchanged from initial figures FY03/27 earning
Slide 21: 2H outlook
03 | Earnings forecasts and 2H outlook 2H outlook We perceive probability of achieving targets to be high at all levels of profit, where progress has been good Decision takes into account postponement of hosting of conference that we had factored into forecasts as well as uncertainties in startup M&
Slide 22: Growth strategy
04 | Growth strategy Startups
Slide 23: 10th anniversary of the founding of for Startups
04 | Growth strategy 10th anniversary of the founding of for Startups for Startups celebrated the 10th anniversary of its founding on September 1, 2026 As an essential presence for the creation of new industries, we will continue to drive social transformation going forward, with a focus on potent c
Slide 24: Important changes in the environment for startups
04 | Growth strategy Important changes in the environment for startups From measures to nurture only startups, we have redefined ourselves as being responsible for helping to raise the base level of competitiveness in 17 strategic fields Simultaneously, we have extended the scope of our business opp
Slide 25: for Startups, for Innovations!
04 | Growth strategy Expanding into “innovation support” over the next ten years for Startups, for Innovations ! We will use the strengths developed in support for startups to expand into support for innovation across the whole of industry 24
Slide 26: Strengths: A unique edge built on solving startups' hiring challenges
04 | Growth strategy Strengths | A unique edge built on solving startups’ hiring challenges Startups’ hiring challenges Our support approach Our competitive edge Track record VC Founders/CXOs Gap Strong network Closer ties Startups Key talent Know-how New deals • Limited funds • Executives • Small b
Slide 27: Strength in startups x executive and manager-level talent
04 | Growth strategy Strengths | Core domain: HR support for startup founders and management Our strength is in the highly demanding segment of startups × executive and manager-level talent This is both a competitive advantage and an area of roles and support that AI cannot replace Founders 1. Edge
Slide 28: Existing products and services
04 | Growth strategy Concentrate on high value-added services and expand areas supported Our aim is to leverage the strengths that enabled our success in employee placements for startups, which is the most demanding area of the HR support market, to expand into the high value-added areas of startup
Slide 29: Expanding HR support areas, TAM 449.0 billion yen
04 | Growth strategy As a company that supports national economic growth strategy, we are gradually expanding the areas to which we provide HR support Our perception is that we can apply the strengths that we have developed to date in HR support for startups, to HR support for growth companies that
Slide 30: Growth industry bottlenecks being cleared, upfront investments in next trends
04 | Growth strategy Growth industry bottlenecks being cleared, making upfront investments in next trends The use of startup M&A intermediary to build a second pillar is a means to break through the sense of being confined within the startup industry Even for investments on the Venture Capital Busin
Slide 31: Business portfolio summary
04 | Growth strategy Business portfolio summary Growth drivers will be expansion of high-added value Human Capital Business and the startup M&A intermediary business While entering the innovation HR market, we aim to achieve high profitability over the medium term by combining these into an investme
Slide 32: Improvements in corporate value
04 | Growth strategy Improvements in corporate value Achieved 5,000 million yen in net sales within ten years of founding. Next target is to exceed 10,000 million yen in net sales as quickly as possible Over the next five years (to FY03/31), will achieve the business growth necessary to fulfill curr
Slide 33: Repurchase of shares
04 | | Growth strategy Repurchase of shares The current share price level is undervalued, so the Company has resolved to implement a program of share repurchases totaling 300 million yen to enhance capital efficiency and augment shareholder returns We are considering using the shares thus obtained f
Slide 34: Appendix: FAQ
05 | Appendix — FAQ Startups
Slide 35: Q&A on matters of interest to investors
05 | Appendix－FAQ Q&A on matters thought to be of considerable interest to investors Does the absence of changes to full-year earnings forecasts mean that you expect operating margin to Q1 decrease in the second half? We have taken into account the shortfall in orders received by the Human Capital B
Slide 36: Q&A on matters of interest to investors
05 | Appendix－FAQ Q&A on matters thought to be of considerable interest to investors Have there been changes in startup recruitment demand caused by factors in the external environment, such Q3 as the uncertainty surrounding the Growth Market and startup industry, and the emergence of AI? The raisin
Slide 37: Appendix: Supplementary materials
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials
Slide 38: Company overview
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials Company overview Company name for Startups, Inc. Established September 2016 Location of 31F Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower, 1-3-1 head office Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo Number of regular employees 278 (as of September 30, 2026) Capital 239 million yen (as of Septe
Slide 39: Human Capital Business: KPI tree
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials Human Capital Business | KPI tree KPIs: we seek to maximize the indicator targets that we can control (number of interviews with new job applicants / number of unique users for which interviews arranged) Career change activity flow Our KPIs and flow for recogniz
Slide 40: Becoming a company essential for the creation of new industries
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials for Startups value creation story Mission: onwards the center of evolution (together) / Vision: for Startups Initiatives to reinforce Our strengths / Business model Positive outcomes from the Vision our strengths / issues sources of growth (Growth industry suppo
Slide 41: Quarterly performance by segment
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials Quarterly performance by segment FY03/25 FY03/26 FY03/27 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q Unit: Million yen Net sales 810 749 785 777 1,010 1,028 1,114 1,321 1,432 1,359 − − Human Capital Segment profit/loss 367 312 311 318 451 443 501 617 722 690 − − Net sal
Slide 42: Change in SG&A expenses
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials Change in SG&A expenses FY03/25 FY03/26 FY03/27 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q Unit: Million yen Personnel expenses 426 419 457 411 502 498 520 609 609 559 － － Rent expenses on land and buildings 54 95 64 64 65 66 66 66 67 67 － － System usage fees 24 24 26
Slide 43: Consolidated balance sheet
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials Consolidated balance sheet FY03/27 FY03/27 FY03/25 FY03/26 FY03/25 FY03/26 Unit: Million yen 1H Unit: Million yen 1H Cash and deposits 1,895 2,162 2,744 Current liabilities 788 1,524 1,290 Accounts receivable - trade, and contract 484 910 610 Non-current liabili
Slide 44: Consolidated cash flows
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials Consolidated cash flows FY03/25 1H FY03/26 1H FY03/27 1H (Million yen) Profit before income taxes 155 331 905 Decrease (increase) in accounts receivable - trade, and contract assets 166 -56 299 Decrease (increase) in operational investment securities － -110 -42
Slide 45: Approach to capital allocation
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials Approach to capital allocation While establishing a new quota for investments on our own account and securing funds for M&A, we will also consider a dynamic approach to shareholder returns Cash resources Allocation policy Although profit growth is the basic poli
Slide 46: Shares (as of September 30, 2026)
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials Shares (as of September 30, 2026) Share ownership Principal shareholders Shares held in Financial institutions Financial instruments Rankin Number of own name Shareholder name 2% business operators g shares held 2% 8% 1 Yuichiro Shimizu 665,500 2 Nihon Kotsu Co.
Slide 47: IR initiatives
05 | Appendix－Supplementary materials IR initiatives Shared Research Consolidation of QA information As part of our efforts to eliminate the information gap with investors and A list of questions and answers received from investors in the past has disclose information fairly, we publish company anal
Slide 48: Disclaimer
Disclaimer These materials contain forward looking statements. These statements are based on no more than the information available at the time the statements were created. Furthermore, such statements do not constitute a guarantee of future results, and incorporate risks and uncertainties. Be aware