Willgate Expands Leadership Team with New Executive and Specialist Officers

Willgate Enhances Leadership with New Executive Appointments

On May 1, 2025, Willgate, a web marketing support company based in Minato, Tokyo, has announced the appointment of new executives that aim to reinforce its leadership structure. The newly appointed members include Shunsuke Imamura and Michio Ueda as Executive Officers, and Soichiro Kakei as a Specialist Officer.

New Executive Profiles

Shunsuke Imamura

Shunsuke Imamura graduated from Seijo University with a degree in psychosocial studies. He joined Willgate as a new graduate and was initially assigned to the SEO department. His responsibilities have spanned across sales, consulting, site analysis, strategy development, and agency operations. Imamura took on a leadership role in the Solutions Unit and played a crucial part in analyzing customer sites, formulating strategies, and developing services. In October 2018, he became a manager and was promoted to Senior Manager in April 2022. He took charge of the web consulting division in January 2024, focusing on reconstructing the organization. Imamura will now serve as an Executive Officer.

Michio Ueda

Following his graduation from Meiji University’s Faculty of Literature, Michio Ueda garnered experience at two publishing companies. He was integral in launching a web media project at his second company, managing editorial and advertising operations while overseeing the web business unit. In 2020, Ueda joined Inclusive, a media consulting firm, where he held the position of Executive Officer overseeing three divisions. He became a director of a subsidiary, Number Nine, in 2022. Ueda came aboard Willgate in 2023 as Director of Corporate Planning, promoting company-wide strategies and institutional reforms, and he has also been overseeing the M&A division as General Manager since November 2024.

New Specialist Officer Profile

Soichiro Kakei

Soichiro Kakei graduated from the International Christian University College of Arts and Sciences. He commenced his career at Willgate as a new graduate and engaged in sales and SEO consulting within the content marketing division. He advanced to Manager of the Marketing Division in April 2021, where he was responsible for marketing strategy formulation and management. Starting April 2023, Kakei transitioned to the Management Office, where he focused on business strategy development and management. By July 2024, he took the role of Manager in the Business Promotion Office's Marketing Unit, all while concurrently serving as Senior Manager in the content marketing department's marketing division from November 2024. Kakei will now take on a Specialist Officer position.

Strengthening Business Operations

With these strategic appointments, Willgate aims to solidify its organizational structure further and to accelerate its business growth aligned with its management philosophy, which emphasizes realizing the “will” of each individual.

Key management members include:

- CEO: Riki Kojima
- Senior Managing Director: Ryo Yoshioka
- Directors: Kenta Kitabayashi, Shota Kurata
- External Directors: Takashi Nishigi, Tomohide Iwatsuki, Koichi Izukura, Daisuke Matsuki
- Executive Officers: Shunsuke Imamura, Michio Ueda, Yasunobu Mukaida
- Specialist Officer: Soichiro Kakei

For more information regarding the executives, visit the Management Page.

About Willgate

Founded in 2006 to support web marketing for small and medium-sized enterprises, Willgate specializes in search engine optimization (SEO) centered consulting. The company provides comprehensive services for content marketing, SaaS solutions for SEO in-house development, a sales tech initiative utilizing an exclusive decision-maker search database, and venture-backed M&A advisory services with a performance-based compensation model.

Company Overview

- Company Name: Willgate, Inc.
- Location: 3F, Omotesando Gran Building, 3-8-38 Minami Aoyama, Minato, Tokyo
- Established: June 20, 2006
- Representative: Riki Kojima, CEO
- Business Areas: Content marketing, sales tech, M&A
- Website: Willgate

Services Overview

- SEO Consulting: End-to-end support from strategy formulation to execution (https://www.willgate.co.jp/promonista/service_list/seoconsulting/)
- TACT SEO: Analysis tool designed for strategic SEO implementation (https://tact-seo.com/)
- EditorU: Online editing team setup service (https://client.editoru.jp/)
- Social Selling Support Consulting: Leveraging personal connections and social media for sales (https://www.willgate.co.jp/socialselling/)
- Apotoru: Company database for searching decision-makers on Facebook and X (https://www.willgate.co.jp/apotoru/)
- Webinar Support Consulting: Achieving results by utilizing company assets without ad expenditure (https://www.willgate.co.jp/webinarconsulting/)
- Protoru: Business and personnel support services in marketing and sales (https://www.willgate.co.jp/protoru/)
- Willgate M&A: M&A advisory service focusing on ventures and IT (https://www.willgate.co.jp/ma/)