Capex
Capex is a Tokyo-based AI company that sells PickUp, a performance-based conversational AI conversion optimization service, and Character Platform, an enterprise custom AI character deployment service, primarily to Japanese financial services, insurance, and e-commerce clients.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersAkasaka, Japan
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Capex does
Capex is a Tokyo-headquartered AI company founded in September 2019 by Shuntaro Kogame (formerly COO of bitFlyer) that builds conversational AI systems for both consumer and enterprise markets. Its core technology is a proprietary hybrid dialogue engine combining scenario-based, retrieval-based, and generative AI under a unified conversation control layer, complemented by 3DCG avatar rendering and a beta voice synthesis capability. The company sells three primary offerings: PickUp, a performance-based (CPA) B2B conversion-optimization service that re-engages departing website visitors via LINE, KakaoTalk, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and SMS with a ¥300,000 monthly fee cap per client; Character Platform, an enterprise service that lets brands deploy custom AI characters (including the Dai-ichi Life "ICHI" and Nippon Life "Mirai" avatars) for 1:1 customer engagement and appointment booking; and PATONA, a consumer life-partner AI companion app with a Premium subscription tier. The company generates revenue through a mix of performance-based fees (PickUp), subscription (PATONA Premium), and project/contract engagements (Character Platform), targeting large Japanese enterprises in financial services, insurance, securities, and fintech as its primary vertical, with active expansion into CPG, education, e-commerce, and US and Korean markets via Capex USA (established April 2024) and a Seoul office (planned launch 2025). Capex has raised approximately ¥230 million (~$1.7M USD) across two funding rounds from UTEC, East Ventures, Skyland Ventures, and Japan Policy Finance Corporation, and was selected for Global Hypergrowth Tokyo 2024; it operates with 11-50 employees under CEO Kogame and CAIO Shin Kanouchi.
Capex firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Capex
- Legal name
- 株式会社Capex
- Website
- https://capex.ai
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Capex is a Tokyo-based AI company that sells PickUp, a performance-based conversational AI conversion optimization service, and Character Platform, an enterprise custom AI character deployment service, primarily to Japanese financial services, insurance, and e-commerce clients.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Capex industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Conversational AI Marketing Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (513210), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Advertising Agencies (541810)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Conversational AI Platforms (chat/voice bots, orchestration) (HDAAAFAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Conversational Marketing & Chat Lead Capture (Chatbots, Live Chat) (BPAFAKAJ), Workplace Automation & Self-Service (RPA for IT, Chatbots, Virtual Agents) (BPAEAIAI), Customer Experience (CX) & Digital Experience (BPAHAEAC)
Keywords
Where Capex is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Akasaka
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices3 records
Markets served
Capex business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- PickUp (Performance-Based / CPA): PickUp is a conversion-optimization service with zero initial and monthly costs — clients pay a success fee only when a conversion (CV) is delivered. The service engages departing website visitors via AI dialogue and guides them to conversion. A monthly cap of 300,000 JPY applies regardless of conversion volume.
- Character Platform (B2B Subscription / Project): Enterprise B2B service enabling companies to create custom AI characters for brand communication. Revenue generated through project fees, platform licensing, or subscription, including joint PoC and PoB engagements with major clients (e.g., Nippon Life, Dai-ichi Life). Combines with human sales teams for maximum conversion.
- PATONA (Consumer Subscription): Personal life partner AI app for individual consumers. PATONA Premium subscription offers unlimited access to 100+ mental health dialogue courses, adjustable relationship mode (companion/mentor/partner), and exclusive conversations. Previous product; no longer actively promoted on current website.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Outcome Based/ Performance | Pay-as-you-go | PickUp — Zero Initial & Monthly Cost, Performance Fee Only |
| Subscription | Monthly | PATONA Premium — Consumer Subscription |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Capex product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Capex develops and sells conversational AI products for enterprises, anchored by PickUp, a performance-based conversion optimization service that re-engages departing website visitors through interactive dialogue on LINE, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and SMS, and by Character Platform, an enterprise service that creates custom AI characters for 1:1 customer engagement. The offerings are powered by a proprietary hybrid dialogue engine combining scenario-based, retrieval-based, and generative AI, paired with 3DCG avatar technology.
Product overview
Capex offers a suite of conversational AI products centered around its proprietary dialogue engine and 3DCG avatar technology. The portfolio consists of two core enterprise B2B services (PickUp and Character Platform), a consumer-facing AI companion app (PATONA), and associated sub-products. PickUp is a performance-based conversion optimization service that guides departing website visitors through LINE using AI dialogues, achieving 6-50% conversion rates. Character Platform enables enterprises to create custom AI characters for 1:1 customer engagement. PATONA is a personal life partner AI app with customizable avatars and mental health courses. The services share underlying dialogue AI technology with hybrid scenario/search/generative engines, 3DCG avatar capabilities, and multi-channel deployment across LINE, KakaoTalk, Instagram, WhatsApp, and SMS.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PickUp: Conversational AI conversion optimization service that engages website visitors through dialogue and guides them toward conversion. Integrates with LINE, web, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and SMS.
- Character Platform
- PATONA
- PATONA Character Platform
Products and services
- PickUp PickUp is a performance-based, managed conversational AI service for enterprise marketing and sales teams. It detects departing website visitors and re-engages them through AI-driven dialogue on web, LINE, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and SMS, with strategy design, scenario creation, technical integration, and ongoing PDCA optimization handled end-to-end by Capex. Achieves reported conversion rates of 6% to 50% depending on industry and product type, with a zero upfront and monthly cost CPA model capped at 300,000 JPY per month.
- Character Platform Character Platform is an enterprise platform that enables companies to create custom AI dialogue characters combining 3DCG avatars with proprietary hybrid dialogue AI to deliver personalized customer engagement, appointment booking, and human-AI hybrid sales. Deployed with major Japanese insurance and financial brands such as Nippon Life and Dai-ichi Life.
- PATONA PATONA is a consumer-facing personal AI companion app providing conversational AI with 3DCG avatar customization, four personality presets, voice synthesis (Beta) with 10 voice types, and mental health dialogue courses. Previous consumer product that generated dialogue data and scenario experience used to validate the underlying enterprise dialogue AI engine.
Quantifiable outcome
- PickUp conversion rate ranges from 6% to 50% depending on industry and product, validating positive customer experience in digital prospect engagement.
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Capex
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Capex technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
AI capability9 records
Feature5 records
Capex partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.
- Ollo MetricsminorVancouver-based digital marketing agency partnership for joint e-commerce optimization webinar. Collaborative content marketing targeting e-commerce businesses with data-driven conversion rate strategies. Capex's retargeting campaigns showed 67x–161x ROAS in Ollo Metrics-led campaigns.
- WallStreetMojominorCollaboration between WallStreetMojo (1.5M+ monthly readers in finance education) and Capex connecting financial expertise with AI-driven procurement solutions. Joint content and thought leadership targeting finance and procurement professionals.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Capex competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- AI Shift: Japanese conversational AI / chatbot vendor (subsidiary of CyberAgent) offering enterprise chat solutions for marketing, customer support, and lead capture. Directly comparable to Capex's PickUp and Character Platform on target market and product category within Japan.
- ObotS (Obvious Inc.): Japanese conversational AI platform serving enterprise customer support and marketing automation across multiple industries. Comparable B2B conversational AI go-to-market and product positioning to Capex's Character Platform.
- alt Inc. Japan-based AI company known for its personal AI assistant 'al+'. Offers both consumer AI companions and enterprise digital human / avatar solutions — closely comparable to Capex's PATONA (consumer) and Character Platform (enterprise avatar) split.
- Drift (Salesloft): Conversational marketing and sales chatbot platform now part of Salesloft, focused on B2B conversion optimization via web chat. Directly comparable to PickUp's positioning as a conversion-rate-optimization layer for landing pages and enterprise funnels.
Broad incumbents
- PKSHA Technology: Listed Japanese AI platform company providing NLP and conversational AI solutions including chatbots and prediction engines. Closest Japanese listed comp for Capex's hybrid dialogue engine with similar enterprise go-to-market across automotive, finance, and retail.
- Kore.ai: Enterprise conversational AI platform providing virtual agents, no-code dialog builder, and generative-AI orchestration for banking, insurance, and retail globally. Comparable in hybrid scenario + generative architecture and financial-services vertical focus.
- LivePerson: Enterprise conversational AI and messaging platform used by major banks, insurers, and retailers for customer engagement. Comparable performance-based / outcome-linked pricing models and end-to-end managed service delivery to Capex's PickUp.
- Intercom: AI-first customer service platform with Fin AI agent and workflow automation across web, in-app, and messaging channels. Comparable on hybrid retrieval + generative dialogue architecture and mid-market / enterprise PLG motion overlapping with PickUp's zero-cost entry model.
Emerging players
- Character.AI: Consumer-facing AI character / companion platform with personality-driven dialogue. Closest peer for Capex's PATONA consumer product in terms of product category, though Capex has since pivoted focus to enterprise deployments.
- Replika: AI companion app for personalized, emotionally-attuned conversation, including subscription tiers. Comparable to PATONA's consumer AI-companion positioning with relationship-mode customization and mental-health dialogue course overlap.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Capex social profiles
Digital presenceCapex compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Capex financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Capex leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Capex subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Capex funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Capex M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Capex
What does Capex do?
Capex develops and sells conversational AI products for enterprises, anchored by PickUp, a performance-based conversion optimization service that re-engages departing website visitors through interactive dialogue on LINE, WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, and SMS, and by Character Platform, an enterprise service that creates custom AI characters for 1:1 customer engagement. The offerings are powered by a proprietary hybrid dialogue engine combining scenario-based, retrieval-based, and generative AI, paired with 3DCG avatar technology.
Is Capex a public or private company?
Capex is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Capex founded?
Capex was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Capex based?
Capex is headquartered in Akasaka, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does Capex make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. PickUp (Performance-Based / CPA) is the primary driver. The others are character Platform (B2B Subscription / Project) and PATONA (Consumer Subscription).
Who are Capex's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are AI Shift, ObotS (Obvious Inc.), alt Inc. and Drift (Salesloft). Broad incumbents are PKSHA Technology, Kore.ai, LivePerson and Intercom. Emerging players are Character.AI and Replika.
Does Capex have an API?
No public API is recorded for Capex.
What industry is Capex in?
Capex's product category is Conversational AI Marketing Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAAAFAC, Conversational AI Platforms (chat/voice bots, orchestration), with a secondary code of BPAFAKAJ, Conversational Marketing & Chat Lead Capture (Chatbots, Live Chat). Its NAICS code is 513210 and its SIC code is 7371.