Prance Holdings
Category: AI in HR & Talent
Japan-born AI hiring platform that automates end-to-end recruitment — from job design to interview and evaluation. Prance Holdings was founded in 2024. The company is led by Vlad Otawa (大田和ブラッド). Based in Tokyo, Japan. Team size: 1-10. Latest round: Seed. Key investors include DEEPCORE.
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- Tokyo, Japan
- Team size
- 1-10
Value proposition
Automates high-volume recruitment workflows (screening, interviewing, evaluation) using AI that learns and replicates skilled recruiters' judgment, reducing bias and operational burden while letting humans focus on relationship-building.
Products and solutions
Prance Hiring — AI Interviewer and AI Screener platform for automated candidate screening, bilingual (Japanese/English) interviews, and skill/background verification.
Unique value
AI trained to replicate top recruiter behavior; conducts interviews 24/7 in Japanese and English regardless of location/time constraints; over 70% of candidates report positive experience with AI interviews.
Target customer
Japanese companies hiring at scale across IT, sales, and administration roles; expanding to US-based clients via New York base.
Industries served
HR Tech / Recruitment / Talent Acquisition
Technology advantage
Proprietary AI models that learn and replicate skilled recruiters' and interviewers' response patterns; scalable architecture for handling large candidate volumes and data points; standardized evaluation framework to reduce bias/harassment.
How they differentiate
Japan-born and bilingual (JP/EN) platform purpose-built for Japan's severe labor shortage, with plans for international expansion via a New York base, versus competitors focused primarily on US/Western markets.
Main competitors
HeyMilo AI, Ribbon AI, HireVue
Key partnerships
DEEPCORE (lead investor, AI-focused VC / SoftBank Group), SRE Holdings (strategic partnership for HR AI transformation, Sep 2025), AESPER Inc. (strategic partnership / AI-powered recruitment support, Oct 2025)
Notable customers
World System Service / World Intec (AI interview system deployment, Nov 2025), TSE Prime-listed comprehensive staffing group (case study: 32% cost reduction, 28% speed improvement), Major PE fund portfolio company (temp staffing hiring automation; ~30% hiring cost reduction)
Major milestones
Founded Feb 2024, launched Prance Hiring AI recruitment platform (Aug 2025), strategic partnership with SRE Holdings (Sep 2025), appointed Anurag Kakar as USA Lead (Sep 2025), AESPER strategic partnership (Oct 2025), World System Service / World Intec customer deployment (Nov 2025), closed DEEPCORE-led seed round (Dec 2025), announced New York / US expansion
Growth metrics
Over 70% of candidates responded positively to AI interviews; TSE Prime-listed staffing group case study: 32% hiring cost reduction and 28% hiring speed improvement; PE portfolio staffing case: ~30% hiring cost reduction with faster throughput.
Market positioning
Early-stage but well-connected (DEEPCORE-backed) AI recruitment automation specialist targeting Japan's labor crisis, with global ambitions.
Geographic focus
Japan (primary), expanding to United States (New York base)
About Vlad Otawa (大田和ブラッド)
Ex-Partner at VantagePoint (subsidiary of JAC Group), one of Japan's largest executive search firms; recognized as top performer.
Latest news about Prance Holdings
- Prance Holdings secured seed funding led by DEEPCORE to scale Prance Hiring, an AI platform tackling Japan labor shortages. 🇯🇵 With 66% of local companies reporting staffing gaps, the platform automat
- Prance Holdings has secured seed funding led by DEEPCORE to scale its agentic AI recruitment platform, Prance Hiring, which automates screening and multi-language interviews. The system achieves over
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Official website: https://prance.co.jp/en/