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Japan – Recruit Holdings invests in US-based virtual assistant service provider

19 November 2014

Recruit Holdings earlier this week announced that it had invested in Las Vegas-based company Zirtual, which uses crowdsourcing techniques to provide a virtual assistant service to corporate executives.  

Through the investment, Recruit Holdings, together with Zirtual, plans to increase the presence of the company’s virtual assistant service, which is expected to attract greater attention in the future. Through Zirtual, companies can access various assistant services; including those provided by freelance workers, and services such as email writing and schedule management.

Financial details of the investment, which was made via Recruit Holding’s RSP Fund No. 5 specialising in investment development and venture capital, were not released.

Following its IPO on 16 October 2014, Recruit Holdings’ President, Masumi Minegishi, advised that the company’s growth strategy was focused on overseas expansion. Earlier this month, the company teamed up with a Tokyo-based venture capital fund to invest in promising start-ups in China.

It intends to use the JPY 100 billion (USD 875.3 million) raised by the IPO to fund acquisitions in Japan and overseas, becoming the top global staffing company by 2020. The company has made an ambitious start, however its revenues still remain some way behind the top listed staffing firms: Adecco, Randstad, and ManpowerGroup.