Relic, a Business Co-creation Company, Fully Acquires SEESAW, a Design Consulting Firm Awarded Numerous Domestic and International Design Prizes. Yohei Murakoshi Appointed CDO Effective April 1st.
Relic Inc., a business co-creation company, has fully acquired SEESAW Inc., a design consulting firm recognized for its international design awards. Effective April 1, 2026, SEESAW's Representative Director, Yohei Murakoshi, will also serve as Relic's Chief Design Officer (CDO). This strategic integration aims to enhance Relic's innovation capabilities by combining its business development and technical expertise with SEESAW's advanced design and branding power.
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- 📰 Published: April 7, 2026 at 20:10
- 🔍 Collected: April 7, 2026 at 11:30
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 18, 2026 at 09:47 (262h 16m after Collected)
Relic Inc., a business co-creation company (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Takaaki Kitajima / CTO: Ryo Oba), announces that it has made SEESAW Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Yohei Murakoshi, hereinafter "SEESAW"), a design consulting firm specializing in new business development and branding that is highly regarded both domestically and internationally, a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Furthermore, effective April 1, 2026, Yohei Murakoshi, Representative Director of SEESAW and a leading creative director in the industry, has been appointed as Relic's CDO (Chief Design Officer).
■ Background: Achieving "Democratization of Innovation" through Deepening BTC Management
Relic transitioned to a joint representative system in January 2026, led by CEO Kitajima and CTO Oba, clarifying its "two-wheel management" where Biz (Business Development) and Dev (Technology Development) share equal decision-making power. The integration of SEESAW into the group and the appointment of Mr. Murakoshi as CDO add strong creative leadership to this system.
In new business development, the power of design to shape customer experience and realize ambitious visions is an indispensable element alongside Biz and Dev.
By welcoming highly skilled design professionals (*1) into the core of its management, Relic aims to maximize its value as a platform that enables anyone to create businesses at a high level, moving towards its vision of "democratization of innovation." This will evolve Relic's management structure into a unique, three-pronged approach with BTC (Business, Technology, Creative) working in unison.
■ Achievements of Yohei Murakoshi, a Leading Figure in the Design Industry, and SEESAW
SEESAW is a select group that has won numerous domestic and international awards, including CANNES LIONS and ACC Grand Prix, as a design consulting company specializing in new business development and branding.
Representative Director Murakoshi is a creative director who leads the industry in both name and reality, having been selected for the design notebook BOOK 'The Strongest Branding Design' released in February 2026. With his 11-year career at Hakuhodo and his dual perspective from both management and production at SEESAW, his role as CDO with final responsibility for the design domain will dramatically enhance the quality of new business development undertaken by Relic.
■ Future Outlook: Accelerating Integrated "Co-creation" Starting from Design
With this organizational restructuring, Relic's strong business production and implementation capabilities will merge with SEESAW's advanced design expertise. The system for implementing businesses end-to-end, starting from design projects and extending to Biz and Dev, will be strengthened. Relic will continue to lead the creation of innovations originating from Japan as a partner where each domain of BTC collaborates at a high management level.
■ Yohei Murakoshi Profile & Comments
Profile:
Graduated from Tama Art University, worked for 11 years at Hakuhodo as an Art Director, involved in mass advertising production for major corporations and new business development projects. Subsequently, he became the Representative Director of the design consulting firm SEESAW. As a Creative Director, he has engaged in various branding and UX development projects. Since 2025, he concurrently serves as an adjunct lecturer in UX at Sugino Fashion School.
Awards:
ACC Grand Prix / SABRE AWARDS Gold / GOOD DESIGN Award / SPIKES ASIA Silver / CANNES LIONS Bronze / ADFEST Bronze / Pentawards Bronze / CODE AWARDS Good Product & Service Award / Dentsu Advertising Award Silver / Asahi Advertising Award Silver / PR AWARD GRAND PRIX Silver, and many other domestic and international awards.
Appointment Comment:
"I am deeply honored to be appointed as Relic's CDO and to welcome SEESAW as a member of the group.
In an era where AI evolution mass-produces output, all businesses are facing a wave of commoditization. In such a landscape, creativity that combines high expressive power with excellent strategic thinking is indispensable for generating competitive strength that clients will choose. SEESAW, as a design consulting collective that refines the essence of business beyond the traditional role of a craftsman designer, will thoroughly address clients' business challenges together with Relic.
Specifically, we will promote the following initiatives:
1. Provide end-to-end support from the initial stages of UX strategy and requirements definition to prototyping, production, and the final construction of UI and design systems.
2. Clearly define and express the unique value of businesses through the verbalization of identity in brand strategy and the visualization of CI/VI, thereby establishing competitive advantage.
3. Accelerate new customer acquisition and sales growth by initiating advertising planning and production, starting with graphic, web, and video production in communication activities.
Through these efforts, we will realize Relic's vision of "democratization of innovation" and the "BTC trinity," and together create an environment where more companies can generate essential value."
■ About Relic Group
Relic, the core operating company of Relic Holdings, operates as a "business co-creation company" supporting new business development and innovation creation for Japanese companies. It comprehensively integrates three business areas: the "Incubation Tech Business," offering a unique SaaS-based platform for new business development; the "Business Produce / New Business Development Support Business," providing comprehensive, end-to-end support for new business and innovation creation; and the "Open Innovation Business," co-creating innovation through investments in startups and joint ventures with large corporations. It boasts the No. 1 domestic share (*2) in new business development support and co-creation, and is a leading company achieving unique value, significance, industry-leading scale, and growth, including its track record of involvement in over 5,000 new business development projects for major Japanese corporations. As the core of the Relic Group, which spans 27 companies and over 350 employees with sales exceeding 10 billion yen, it realizes new business development support and co-creation nationwide from bases in 18 prefectures across Japan.
Furthermore, since the establishment of Relic Holdings in 2021, the Relic Group has expanded to 27 companies through the establishment of joint ventures with large corporations and startups from the all-around startup and venture co-creation program "ZERO1000 Ventures." Relic Group will continue to drive new business development across Japan simultaneously and multiply.
Details of each company within the Relic Group can be found on our website. We are also actively recruiting at all group companies.
*1: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Guideline for Cultivating Advanced Design Human Resources", https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/mono_info_service/mono/human-design/20190329_02.pdf
*2: 2024, "Survey of the Boutique Consulting Market for New Business Development," Relic Inc. / Digital Infact Inc., https://relic.co.jp/press-release/54696/
Furthermore, effective April 1, 2026, Yohei Murakoshi, Representative Director of SEESAW and a leading creative director in the industry, has been appointed as Relic's CDO (Chief Design Officer).
■ Background: Achieving "Democratization of Innovation" through Deepening BTC Management
Relic transitioned to a joint representative system in January 2026, led by CEO Kitajima and CTO Oba, clarifying its "two-wheel management" where Biz (Business Development) and Dev (Technology Development) share equal decision-making power. The integration of SEESAW into the group and the appointment of Mr. Murakoshi as CDO add strong creative leadership to this system.
In new business development, the power of design to shape customer experience and realize ambitious visions is an indispensable element alongside Biz and Dev.
By welcoming highly skilled design professionals (*1) into the core of its management, Relic aims to maximize its value as a platform that enables anyone to create businesses at a high level, moving towards its vision of "democratization of innovation." This will evolve Relic's management structure into a unique, three-pronged approach with BTC (Business, Technology, Creative) working in unison.
■ Achievements of Yohei Murakoshi, a Leading Figure in the Design Industry, and SEESAW
SEESAW is a select group that has won numerous domestic and international awards, including CANNES LIONS and ACC Grand Prix, as a design consulting company specializing in new business development and branding.
Representative Director Murakoshi is a creative director who leads the industry in both name and reality, having been selected for the design notebook BOOK 'The Strongest Branding Design' released in February 2026. With his 11-year career at Hakuhodo and his dual perspective from both management and production at SEESAW, his role as CDO with final responsibility for the design domain will dramatically enhance the quality of new business development undertaken by Relic.
■ Future Outlook: Accelerating Integrated "Co-creation" Starting from Design
With this organizational restructuring, Relic's strong business production and implementation capabilities will merge with SEESAW's advanced design expertise. The system for implementing businesses end-to-end, starting from design projects and extending to Biz and Dev, will be strengthened. Relic will continue to lead the creation of innovations originating from Japan as a partner where each domain of BTC collaborates at a high management level.
■ Yohei Murakoshi Profile & Comments
Profile:
Graduated from Tama Art University, worked for 11 years at Hakuhodo as an Art Director, involved in mass advertising production for major corporations and new business development projects. Subsequently, he became the Representative Director of the design consulting firm SEESAW. As a Creative Director, he has engaged in various branding and UX development projects. Since 2025, he concurrently serves as an adjunct lecturer in UX at Sugino Fashion School.
Awards:
ACC Grand Prix / SABRE AWARDS Gold / GOOD DESIGN Award / SPIKES ASIA Silver / CANNES LIONS Bronze / ADFEST Bronze / Pentawards Bronze / CODE AWARDS Good Product & Service Award / Dentsu Advertising Award Silver / Asahi Advertising Award Silver / PR AWARD GRAND PRIX Silver, and many other domestic and international awards.
Appointment Comment:
"I am deeply honored to be appointed as Relic's CDO and to welcome SEESAW as a member of the group.
In an era where AI evolution mass-produces output, all businesses are facing a wave of commoditization. In such a landscape, creativity that combines high expressive power with excellent strategic thinking is indispensable for generating competitive strength that clients will choose. SEESAW, as a design consulting collective that refines the essence of business beyond the traditional role of a craftsman designer, will thoroughly address clients' business challenges together with Relic.
Specifically, we will promote the following initiatives:
1. Provide end-to-end support from the initial stages of UX strategy and requirements definition to prototyping, production, and the final construction of UI and design systems.
2. Clearly define and express the unique value of businesses through the verbalization of identity in brand strategy and the visualization of CI/VI, thereby establishing competitive advantage.
3. Accelerate new customer acquisition and sales growth by initiating advertising planning and production, starting with graphic, web, and video production in communication activities.
Through these efforts, we will realize Relic's vision of "democratization of innovation" and the "BTC trinity," and together create an environment where more companies can generate essential value."
■ About Relic Group
Relic, the core operating company of Relic Holdings, operates as a "business co-creation company" supporting new business development and innovation creation for Japanese companies. It comprehensively integrates three business areas: the "Incubation Tech Business," offering a unique SaaS-based platform for new business development; the "Business Produce / New Business Development Support Business," providing comprehensive, end-to-end support for new business and innovation creation; and the "Open Innovation Business," co-creating innovation through investments in startups and joint ventures with large corporations. It boasts the No. 1 domestic share (*2) in new business development support and co-creation, and is a leading company achieving unique value, significance, industry-leading scale, and growth, including its track record of involvement in over 5,000 new business development projects for major Japanese corporations. As the core of the Relic Group, which spans 27 companies and over 350 employees with sales exceeding 10 billion yen, it realizes new business development support and co-creation nationwide from bases in 18 prefectures across Japan.
Furthermore, since the establishment of Relic Holdings in 2021, the Relic Group has expanded to 27 companies through the establishment of joint ventures with large corporations and startups from the all-around startup and venture co-creation program "ZERO1000 Ventures." Relic Group will continue to drive new business development across Japan simultaneously and multiply.
Details of each company within the Relic Group can be found on our website. We are also actively recruiting at all group companies.
*1: Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry "Guideline for Cultivating Advanced Design Human Resources", https://www.meti.go.jp/policy/mono_info_service/mono/human-design/20190329_02.pdf
*2: 2024, "Survey of the Boutique Consulting Market for New Business Development," Relic Inc. / Digital Infact Inc., https://relic.co.jp/press-release/54696/