Company Overview

1. Company Overview

Progitter, ticker symbol 9560, is a high-growth company that focuses on providing English coaching services as its main service, with the mission of "increasing the number of people who can work freely in the world" and expanding its business. The total number of Progitter students has exceeded 20,000 (as of the end of July 2024). The customer base is wide-ranging, from early 20s to late 40s, with business professionals being the main customer segment. There are a total of 11 campuses, including 8 in the Kanto region (Yurakucho, Shinjuku Center Building, Ikebukuro, Akihabara Kanda, Shibuya, Roppongi, Shinagawa, Yokohama), 1 in Tokai (Nagoya), and 2 in Kansai (Hankyu Umeda, Kobe Sannomiya).

As corporate activities grow today, it is common for the scope of business transactions and the network of production activities to become global. In such cases, English, which has established itself as an international language, is used alongside local languages. The company aims to provide skills and confidence to all people through coaching services so that no one has to give up communication with the 7 billion people who speak English or work globally just because they cannot speak English. They strive to create an environment where as many people as possible can work freely in the world by offering high-quality services. Additionally, to support the mission, the company has established FIVE GRIT (5 core values) shared by employees.

FIVE GRIT

(1) Customer Oriented - Think from the customer's perspective. Consider and act from the customer's standpoint.

Think and act from a customer-centric viewpoint.

(2) Go Higher - Set high goals.

Having the courage to set high goals, I will challenge those goals.

(3) Own Issues - Let's solve the issues ourselves.

Having a sense of ownership towards the issues, I will guide towards solutions.

(4) Respect All - Let's respect each other.

Respecting colleagues, I will communicate with empathy.

(5) Appreciate Feedback - Let's be grateful for feedback.

I am grateful for all feedback and create better value.

These five values form the foundation for the company's business activities, clarifying the purpose of business development and providing speed to the decision-making process and action. They are consistently applied and maintained for sustainable business growth.

2. History

The company was established by Shogo Okada, the current representative director and president, and Shuntaro Yamazaki, the current executive vice president, in September 2016. Influenced by his father, a business owner, Mr. Okada had a strong desire to start a business and become an entrepreneur since he was young, and he strengthened his ambition to start a business during his student days. Later, while working at a foreign consulting firm and living as a working adult, he solidified his determination to contribute to society by launching a business through his own experiences. While exploring business models, the struggles he faced communicating in English during work experiences became the motivation to develop the service. When using English in business, the focus is on immediate skills rather than gradual language improvement. Since there was no service available to rapidly enhance English proficiency to a practical level, he envisioned a service to meet this need and decided to start a business. In September 2016, he released the pioneering "TOKKUN ENGLISH" service, which became the precursor to the current English coaching service. This service was developed in response to the most important fact that a large amount of study time is crucial for improving English proficiency.

Since May 2018, efforts have been made to improve the quality of the service and diversify its offerings. As learner data accumulated, it was confirmed that the efficiency and effectiveness of learning have increased. With the desire for customers to progress with perseverance, the service name of English coaching was changed to "Progrett." Additionally, services to support learning continuation after coaching, such as "NEXT," and the monthly subscription "Shadowing Correction Course," were launched successively. In October of the same year, the "Progrett" online course was also started. In October 2019, the company name was changed to Progrett Co., Ltd. to establish a system to provide long-term value to customers, and the Shadowing Correction Course Long-Term Plan was introduced. Furthermore, in June 2020, the subscription service "ShadowTen" was gradually launched. In December 2023, a new subscription service, "Spiful," was launched, followed by "Dear Talk" in July 2024.

(Writer: FISCO analyst Tomoichi Murase)