ENVALITH
株式会社イノベーション logo

Innovation Inc.

3970・Growth Market・Information & Communication

Official website
株式会社イノベーション logo
Innovation Inc.3970

Business

Innovation Inc. has set forth the mission of "Changing the Way We Work," supporting the entire five domains of corporate sales—"awareness → acquisition of prospective customer information → prospective customer nurturing → proposal/closing → upsell/cross-sell"—through internet services. In its core Online Media Business, the company operates "IT Trend," a comparison and document request site for corporate IT products, while in its IT Solutions Business it provides the MA tools "SHANON MARKETING PLATFORM" and "List Finder." The 2025 tender offer acquisition of Shanon as a subsidiary expanded the company's revenue scale, and as a group comprised of the company and nine subsidiaries, it now offers integrated services covering BtoB marketing support from upstream to downstream. Its main customers are corporate companies that sell IT products and outsourcing services.

Business Model

In the Online Media Business, revenue is generated through performance-based fees charged for each document request from listed companies. In the IT Solutions Business, the company builds up recurring revenue centered on monthly usage fees for MA tools. The two businesses cover the upstream (awareness and lead generation) and downstream (nurturing and closing) stages of the corporate sales process, forming a structure designed to maximize customer lifetime value through mutual referrals and cross-selling.

Company Strengths

Lead acquisition support via "IT Trend" (Online Media Business) and lead nurturing/closing support via "SHANON MARKETING PLATFORM" and "List Finder" (IT Solutions Business) are both completed within the company's own group. While competitors specialize in a single domain, the ability to provide the entire corporate sales process end-to-end is a structural advantage that is difficult to imitate.

As of the end of FY2026 (ending March 2026), the number of products listed on "IT Trend" reached 8,377 (up 137.4% year on year), spanning 408 service categories and 4,501 companies. The substantial expansion in the number of listed products serves as a foundation for improving the number of document requests over the medium to long term, and enhances revenue potential under the performance-based (success fee) charging model. The depth of this product database is also a differentiating factor versus competing sites.

Through the tender offer (TOB) in January 2025, SHANON Co., Ltd. became a consolidated subsidiary, and IT Solutions Business revenue expanded 627.4% year on year to ¥2,914 million. The company holds two products, "SHANON MARKETING PLATFORM" and "List Finder," building a product portfolio that covers both high-function MA for large enterprises and low-cost MA for mid-sized enterprises.

ENVALITH's Perspective

In FY2026 (ending March 2026), net sales expanded 30.4%, but selling, general and administrative expenses ballooned to ¥3,749 million (up 91.3% year on year), resulting in an operating loss of ¥248 million and a net loss attributable to owners of the parent of ¥458 million. Goodwill amortization of ¥144 million and customer-related asset amortization of ¥76 million arose in connection with the Shanon tender offer, and with an unamortized goodwill balance of ¥1,294 million, this amortization burden will continue going forward. The forecast for FY2027 (ending March 2027) calls for a swing to operating profit of ¥130 million, but achieving this will require both curbing company-wide expenses and improving profitability in the IT Solutions Business, and progress needs to be monitored carefully.

The number of visitors to "IT Trend" fell sharply to 13,014,666 in FY2026 (ending March 2026), down 33.9% year on year. This is set against a structural shift in which business professionals' information-gathering behavior is moving from web search to AI dialogue amid the spread of generative AI, exposing the limits of the conventional SEO-dependent customer acquisition model. Online Media Business net sales came to ¥3,729 million (down 6.1% year on year) and segment profit to ¥1,189 million (down 22.0% year on year), reflecting declining profitability; whether the shift toward offerings such as "bizplay" and "IT Trend EXPO" can be completed in time is the most critical medium-term issue.

The loan agreement concluded in April 2025 includes a financial covenant requiring "ordinary income/loss to be maintained at zero yen or above," but the company posted an ordinary loss of ¥334 million in FY2026 (ending March 2026), already breaching this covenant. Since a breach in two consecutive periods would trigger loss of the benefit of time (acceleration), returning to ordinary income profitability in FY2027 (ending March 2027) is a critical financial milestone. In addition, losses have widened, with the Financial Platform Business posting a segment loss of ¥197 million and the VC Fund Business a segment loss of ¥287 million due to impairment of five investee holdings, among other factors; the unclear outlook for monetization in both businesses is also a risk factor for investors.

Growth Strategy

Maximizing synergies from the Shanon integration and building a new BtoB sales-promotion support model adapted to the generative AI era

Promoting enhanced cross-selling through mutual complementation of the product and customer bases of "SHANON MARKETING PLATFORM" and "List Finder," as well as improved competitiveness through operational efficiency gains. Aiming to become the No.1 domestic MA account holder, with a mid-to-long-term goal of expanding into a suite of tools supporting the entire customer acquisition and nurturing flow, including the SFA/CRM domain.

Moving away from SEO-dependent customer acquisition and strengthening rich content such as the video platform "bizplay" and the online exhibition "IT Trend EXPO." By providing "content as data for AI to learn from" to maintain comprehensive product information, and optimizing the differentiation of media that emphasize uniquely human experiential value, the aim is to maintain and enhance media value even in the generative AI era.

Accelerating improved profitability and concentration of management resources through the group reorganization completed in December 2025, involving business transfers and share transfers among subsidiaries. In the Financial Platform Business, thoroughly restructuring operations and prioritizing profitability-focused management following the sale of the outsourcing division, aiming to transition to a sustainably profitable structure.

Expanding touchpoints with startups possessing cutting-edge technology and business seeds through INNOVATION HAYATE V Capital Investment Limited Partnership and INNOVATION V Capital Investment Limited Partnership, formed in May 2025. Aiming to realize financial returns through IPOs and value-up of portfolio companies, as well as discontinuous growth through open innovation collaboration with each group business.

Last updated: July 19, 2026