LIGHTz Inc., a startup in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, that builds AI to help manufacturers pass on the know-how of experienced engineers, has acquired OMOTECH Inc. (Omoshiro Technology), a Tokyo AI engineering and security company. LIGHTz announced on October 30, 2026 that it had bought all of OMOTECH's shares, making it a wholly owned subsidiary.
The share transfer took effect on September 30, 2026, according to the deal summary in LIGHTz's press release. The price was not disclosed.
OMOTECH will keep its company name and continue serving its existing customers as before. LIGHTz said it would announce later any new services built with OMOTECH and its plans for OMOTECH's own products.
What OMOTECH does
OMOTECH was founded on October 19, 2022 and is based in Ota ward, Tokyo. Its representative director is Ayuki Noro (野呂歩希). LIGHTz said the company was founded mainly by graduates of the National Institute of Technology, Ichinoseki College, a technical college in Iwate prefecture.
The company's business covers AI-assisted system development, web services, and the design, building, operation, maintenance and consulting of software. LIGHTz described it as a group of engineers working in forward-deployed engineering, or FDE, a model in which engineers embed with customers and handle everything from finding the problem to design, AI implementation and ongoing improvement. OMOTECH also does security work and has experience running corporate security governance for clients.
LIGHTz said Noro also pushes the company to run its own businesses, on the principle that engineers who talk to clients about business should be able to build one themselves. No outside funding for OMOTECH has been reported.
Why LIGHTz is buying
LIGHTz was founded on October 5, 2016 and is led by chief executive Shingo Otobe (乙部信吾). It is unlisted and has capital of ¥100 million. Its technology, which it calls 'hanchika' (knowledge generalisation) and BrainModel, aims to capture the thinking and know-how of skilled manufacturing engineers and turn it into data that others can use. Its products include blooplinter, a platform for storing and searching 3D CAD data together with the knowledge attached to it.
In its announcement LIGHTz said that as AI use spreads, customers want more than a platform: they want a partner that can work deep inside their operations until results appear. Adding OMOTECH's AI and security engineers is meant to move LIGHTz from platform provider to a company that makes AI work on the factory floor.
LIGHTz listed three expected benefits. Its engineers will go into customers' plants to speed up AI adoption on its platform, especially for manufacturers making many products in small batches. OMOTECH's experience with AI-assisted fast development should shorten LIGHTz's own product cycles. And feedback from individual sites should feed more directly into product improvements.
The people and the money
In comments in the release, Otobe said he is from Iwate, the same prefecture as OMOTECH's founders, and that he respects engineers who grew up there and chose the profession. He said he hoped the combination of LIGHTz's ten years of work on its knowledge technology with OMOTECH's drive would be well received. Noro said OMOTECH wants to combine LIGHTz's knowledge of tacit expertise with its own ability to get into a site and build quickly, and called joining the group a new starting point.
LIGHTz itself is venture-backed. In November 2024 it raised ¥890 million (about $5.8 million) in a pre-Series B round from investors including water treatment company Organo, Tokyo Boeki Holdings and Shoko Chukin Bank, along with two other companies and one financial institution, THE BRIDGE reported. That followed a Series A round in March 2024 and brought its total funding to ¥1.75 billion (about $11.5 million).
What happens next
The release said OMOTECH's engineers will work with LIGHTz on manufacturers' sites, where the trend towards high-mix, low-volume production means each customer's know-how is different. LIGHTz wants customers to build what it calls a knowledge infrastructure that holds their own expertise, using its platform, with engineers on hand to get AI adopted and used. LIGHTz did not disclose OMOTECH's revenue or headcount, or say whether more acquisitions are planned.
