Ryo Ogawa

EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2025 finalist, Japan
CEO, Representative Director of Timee, Inc.

Ryo Ogawa is addressing Japan’s labor shortage with a groundbreaking on-demand job platform.

Ryo Ogawa’s journey into entrepreneurship began with a lesson in resilience. After initially launching an apparel startup that quickly faltered, he found himself working as a day laborer to repay his debts. It was during this challenging time that Ryo encountered the frustrating inefficiencies of traditional hiring processes, including payment delays and a lack of transparency. This ignited a spark that led him to create Timee, Inc. in 2018.

Timee, Inc. is an on-demand job platform designed to connect businesses with workers in real time, addressing Japan’s critical labor shortage amid a declining population. It provides businesses with reliable staffing solutions while empowering workers with job opportunities unrestricted by time or location. In just a few years, the platform has facilitated connections for over 10 million workers across 335,000 business locations. The company went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market in July 2024, marking a significant milestone in its growth.

Ryo envisions Timee, Inc. as the foundation of future labor infrastructure, bridging the gap between job seekers and the staffing needs of businesses. With a mission of “helping individuals create more valuable time,” through his company Ryo is striving to build a more inclusive and adaptable labor market where people can seamlessly find work opportunities. Ryo’s journey exemplifies how personal challenges can lead to innovative solutions that not only transform individual lives but also address some of society’s biggest issues.