Kaminashi, a Tokyo company that makes software for frontline workers in factories, warehouses and other workplaces, has raised ¥2.21bn (about $14m) in a Series C round. It announced the round on 21 October 2026.
Incubate Fund led the round as a new investor. Artemis Ventures, NTT Docomo Ventures, Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Keio Rail Fund, T&D Innovation Fund, KRAFTIA Innovation Fund and YMFG Capital also joined, and the existing investor Chiba Dojo Fund invested again, according to the company's release.
Kaminashi said the round brings its total equity funding to about ¥6.1bn (about $38.6m), or more than ¥7.6bn including borrowings. Nikkei also reported the raise. No valuation was disclosed.
What Kaminashi does
Kaminashi makes apps that move frontline records such as checks, reports and production data off paper and into software. It has grown to five products, up from one in 2023, the company said, and about 70% of new orders are now bundle contracts covering several of them. Nikkei described the line-up as five systems for manufacturing floors. The company groups its products around three areas of frontline work: tasks, people and equipment. Customers that use more than one product account for about half of its monthly recurring revenue, it said.
The company's website says its tools are used at 17,000 sites across Japan. Customers named in the release include Mimoto and Kirin Group Logistics, which is the first partner for a new initiative called Project Lux.
Kaminashi was founded in December 2016. Its representative director and chief executive is Hiroto Morooka. The company is based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. Between July 2025 and June 2026 its staff spent more than 3,300 days in total visiting customer sites, according to the release.
The Hub plan
Morooka said the company's strategy, which it calls the Hub concept, is to sit between the frontline and management as a relay point for data, so that both sides work towards the same goals. The idea is that records created during daily work can feed AI analysis without extra data entry.
Kaminashi Production Results lets manufacturers enter output figures on phones or tablets rather than copying paper records into their core systems, and connects those figures with data on tasks, staff and equipment. Project Lux is a service that combines Kaminashi's frontline data with a customer's own core-system data. With Kirin Group Logistics, it will link daily inspection records kept in the Kaminashi Report app with the logistics firm's safety data, with the aim of cutting accidents in warehouses. Since 2023 the company has also been building a common ID system so that customers can use one account across its products.
Incubate Fund general partner Masashi Ihara said in the release that frontline operations are a source of Japan's competitiveness but have lagged furthest behind in digitalisation. A Mimoto executive said the company had chosen to consolidate its frontline digital tools on Kaminashi so it could analyse the data with AI.
Mynavi TECH+ reported that the company also adopted a new logo and tagline with the announcement.
What the money is for
Kaminashi said it will use the money to build new products, including Kaminashi Production Results, a production-tracking tool due to launch in November 2026, to staff the Project Lux team, to build a shared platform across its products and to hire.
Chiba Dojo Fund said this was its third investment in Kaminashi.
Several of the new backers are large Japanese companies or their venture arms, including NTT Docomo, Dai-ichi Life and the Keio railway group. NTT Docomo Ventures said it shares Kaminashi's aim of expanding what frontline workers can do.
The company has not disclosed its headcount or revenue.
Company website: kaminashi.jp