Sansan proudly announces it has assigned Hiroshi “Edward” Senju as our Regional CEO. He’ll be based out of our Singapore office.

Asia is fast becoming the world’s business and economic hub, and at Sansan we’re doubling down on our mission to make Sansan a key part of doing business here.

Edward is one of Sansan’s first employees and he possesses deep knowledge of all we have to offer.

“I see Edward as one of the core founding members of this company, and my alter-ego”, our CEO and Founder Chika Terada says. “Since I can’t go there myself, we decided to dispatch him.”

His team members in Singapore are extremely glad to have him at the helm. Edward’s always a positive presence and motivates everyone around him. He’ll be working to help more of the world’s companies use Sansan’s advanced way of managing their business network.

The Sansan cloud-based and business card-based B2B contact management CRM/CMS system is like no other. This is why it carved out an 80% market share in Japan. Still, communicating its value to other markets is vital.

“I so strongly believe in Sansan’s commitment to turning business encounters into innovation, and how our products realize this” Edward says. “Singapore and ASEAN are a great fit for us. I’d already spent considerable time working with the team here. Now I get to directly steer them to even more success. The business environment here is dynamic and we’ve seen strong demand.”

Sansan Global in Singapore is making notable progress, serving 50 corporate customers in just the last year. Edward’s looking to substantially ramp up that number by meeting demand in ASEAN and growing the number of clients.

Sansan’s Future in Singapore and ASEAN

Sansan sees Singapore as the ideal base, with terrific possibilities. The Singapore government is fully committed to establishing the “Little Red Dot” as a global business center, and it actively supports local businesses as they grow the economy.

In a quick couple of years, Sansan’s start-up staff in Singapore has made an impact. This year they’ve added more talent our marketing and sales group, and it’s paying off. Now with Edward in charge, greater things are expected.

“We see huge potential among Singapore and ASEAN businesses seeking to capture, track, and benefit from the millions of contacts their employees have every single day,” Edward says. “Our staff here, the energy, the passion – we’ve got something special in the works”

Also, after Sansan’s IPO made a big footprint on the Japan startup scene, there’s even more momentum with the company’s global efforts.

One of Our First Employees, and Always an Inspiration

Since Sansan’s early days, Edward Senju has been a pivotal team member. When he joined in 2009, Chika Terada and the company founders realized how incredibly valuable Edward is. Growing up and working in Japan, the US, and Mexico gives Edward a uniquely international perspective.

He’s guided management and operations both for the Sansan B2B solution and our consumer-oriented app Eight. Now with two million users, he’s helped make Eight the biggest business social network in Japan.

Edward not only helped Eight become a huge player in Japan, he spearheaded its introduction to the rest of the world, especially in India.

“Working to make Eight a hit in Japan and then taking it to India showed me how two cultures can see value differently,” Edward says. “I developed so much personally, and we were able to popularize something that was so familiar in Japan, but not that well-known elsewhere. This is what we’re doing now with Sansan in Southeast Asia.”

“I admire Edward’s passion and commitment,” Chika says “Though he’s not here in Tokyo, we can still enjoy his energy through weekly meetings and other ways we’re in touch.”

Those of us who work with Edward in Singapore and Tokyo will agree with this, and we’re looking forward to great things!