Unilabo

About Unilabo

PRONI Inc., formerly known as Unilabo Inc., operates a major B2B procurement and matching platform in Japan, aiming to create an infrastructure for business ordering and receiving. The company was founded in October 2012 by Norio Kuriyama, who was later joined by co-representative Daisuke Shibata. Kuriyama's background includes experience at Mitsubishi Corporation and DeNA, where he became the youngest executive officer and was involved in launching numerous new businesses. This experience highlighted for him the inefficiencies and challenges in B2B procurement, which inspired the creation of the company.

The firm's core service is the "PRONI AIMITSU" platform, which started in 2014. It is designed to help businesses find and connect with optimal service providers quickly and efficiently. The platform addresses the information asymmetry in the B2B market by providing detailed information on over 2,500 companies across approximately 100 categories, including IT production, advertising, HR, BPO, and professional services. A key feature is its concierge service, where professionals assist users with tasks like gathering quotes and comparing vendors, leveraging a massive dataset from over 300,000 matchmaking instances. In addition to the general platform, PRONI offers specialized services like "PRONI AIMITSU SaaS" for IT and SaaS products, "AI Saikyo Navi" for AI services, and industry-specific portals such as "Jinjih DX Saikyo Navi" for HR digital transformation.

PRONI's business model targets the vast B2B procurement market, estimated to be around 300 trillion yen, by resolving inefficiencies for clients ranging from SMEs and startups to large corporations and government agencies. Revenue for service providers is generated through lead acquisition, while the platform offers a more efficient and transparent procurement process for buyers. The company has seen significant growth, securing a cumulative 4.6 billion yen in funding and preparing for an IPO. In September 2023, the company rebranded from Unilabo to PRONI Inc. to better reflect its mission of helping clients "Meet the Pros, Become a Pro."