Mitsubishi UFJ Bank's Head of Asia Strategy Planning Department Joins UPWARD as CSO (Chief Strategy Officer)

UPWARD, Inc. (Location: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President, and CEO: Takanori Kaneki; URL: https://upward.jp), whose mission is to "Innovate the Last One Mile of the Field," is pleased to announce that Hiromasa Shimono, who was in charge of strategic planning operations for foreign exchange trading and market departments at Mitsubishi UFJ Bank in Tokyo and Singapore, and specializes in formulating strategies to maximize business both domestically and internationally, has been appointed as Chief Strategy Officer (hereinafter CSO) effective April 5, 2022.

・Background

"Sales Engagement" connects salespersons and customers, and improves the degree of customer understanding across the entire company to establish strategies. Although its history is still shallow, the market size is said to expand to 630 billion yen in 2023. UPWARD has entered this market early, advocating "Innovating the Last One Mile of the Field" as its mission, and has built a track record of implementation in over 300 companies, mainly large enterprises, and a high contract renewal rate (98.7%). Recently, UPWARD was selected for Forbes JAPAN's "Japan's CLOUD TOP20", and with increasing attention, the addition of Shimono, a strategy planning professional with experience in overseas expansion, as CSO will further expand business, maximize corporate value, and enhance its presence as a leading company in Sales Engagement services.

・Comments from Ryosuke Kaneki, Representative Director, President and CEO of UPWARD, Inc.

I am very honored to announce that Hiromasa Shimono will be joining our company as CSO. I hope to leverage the market insight and extensive strategic planning experience cultivated in his previous position to build a sophisticated business strategy platform that integrates business divisions. To realize medium- to long-term plans in business, it is important to set "reverse-engineered milestones" with a high degree of resolution and to maintain "recovery plans" that flexibly respond to environmental changes, such as Plan B and C. I believe this will also lead to the construction of a "Moat" (protecting the business when the castle of business is attacked by external enemies = the company's competitive advantage). We will continue to work as a team to achieve a strategy-driven management that balances offense and defense.

- Comment from Hiromasa Shimono, UPWARD, Inc. Corporate Planning Division General Manager and CSO

UPWARD is a pioneer in the field of Sales Engagement, which is expected to become the cornerstone of DX in sales both domestically and internationally. I deeply empathize with UPWARD's mission to "Innovate the Last One Mile of the Field," which is why I decided to join the company. I will leverage my experience in Asia to contribute to business expansion through strategic planning and execution. I will also strive to strengthen the systems and foundations that support UPWARD's rapid growth and create a company that enhances corporate value and provides peace of mind for investors.

- Hiromasa Shimono, UPWARD, Inc. Corporate Planning Division General Manager and CSO - Biography

Graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Hitotsubashi University. Joined Mitsubishi UFJ Bank in 2005, where he was engaged in trading operations in the foreign exchange market in Tokyo and Singapore. He then moved to Bangkok, where he was responsible for the acquisition and integration of Bank of Ayudhya. After returning to Japan, he was in charge of strategic planning for the group's market operations and was involved in the formulation of medium-term management plans. He was then stationed in Singapore again, where he was involved in strategic planning and execution for the Asian market business. Joined UPWARD in April 2022.