J-Star invests in Japan IT provider
Japanese private equity firm J-Star has invested an undisclosed sum in local IT staffing services provider Miraie in an apparent consolidation play.
J-Star is investing via its fourth middle-market fund, which closed on JPY 48.5bn (USD 359m) in 2019 and typically deploys in a range of JPY 1b to JPY 3bn, targeting co-control stakes. The private equity firm used the same fund to acquire IT job search platform Gino in early 2020.
Previous investments in the job placement niche also include Aki-Japan, an employee training provider specialising in the construction sector. J-Star has framed its interest in this space as part of an attempt to solve chronic workforce shortage problems and other challenges related to Japan's ageing population narrative.
Founded in 2007, Miraie provides IT consulting, systems development, and web services to corporate clients, contracting on an engineering-hours rather than project delivery basis. This typically entails technical support, whereby engineering teams are deployed to support the installation and launch of new systems.
Miraie makes a feature of customising its support service teams with a view to mixing older and younger professionals. J-Star identified this aspect of the service as catering to Japan’s ageing and evolving workplace culture.
The offering includes a job search and project introduction site geared toward middle-aged IT engineers. The platform puts about 500 IT professionals to work every month, 53% of whom are in their 40s and 50s.
At the time of its acquisition, Gino was said to offer Japan’s largest IT job search platform with 300,000 users, or about 75% of the IT engineering in the country. Government data has indicated the domestic shortfall of IT professionals would increase from 170,000 in 2015 to 590,000 in 2030.
J-Star focuses on Japan’s lower middle market and has experience with platform plays in various industries, notably healthcare. The firm closed its fifth fund at the hard cap of JPY 75bn in April last year.
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