What TRANBI does

TRANBI Inc. operates a Japanese business succession and M&A marketplace headquartered in Tokyo, founded in 2016. The platform connects individual and SME buyers with sellers of small businesses — including sole proprietorships, franchises, and rental-space operations — with a particular emphasis on low-capex deals (over 200 listings priced at 5 million yen or below) and on serving first-time M&A participants. Core products include the matching and negotiation platform, a business valuation tool, an optional paid matching-agent service, an AI-powered listing registration assistant (launched March 2026 in beta), an e-learning library, and two Slack-based communities (Fukugyoubu for side-hustle seekers and M&A-nabu for M&A practitioners). Distribution is primarily self-serve via tranbi.com, augmented by a co-branded Shinkin bank portal (shinkin.tranbi.com) through partnerships with over 150 regional credit unions, plus an M&A expert directory and event-driven lead generation through online seminars.

The business model is asymmetric by design: sellers list and close deals for free with no success or transaction fees, while buyers pay a recurring monthly subscription to access listings, send negotiation requests, and use platform tooling. Layered on this subscription base are optional fee-based services — matching-agent support, expert consultations, and AI-assisted listing generation — that capture professional-services revenue from users who need hands-on assistance. TRANBI monetizes its network of over 200,000 registered members and 3,000+ active listings primarily through this buyer-side subscription stream, while using the no-fee seller proposition to maximize listing supply and the Shinkin bank channel as a differentiated offline acquisition route into Japan's regional SME owner base, a segment poorly served by traditional M&A brokerages.

Name

TRANBI

Legal name

TRANBI Inc.

Website

https://tranbi.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

TRANBI is a Japanese online M&A and business succession marketplace connecting individual and SME buyers with sellers of small businesses, monetizing via buyer subscriptions and optional paid services. It claims 200,000+ members, 3,000+ active listings, and 150+ Shinkin bank referral partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Buyer Monthly Subscription: Buyers pay a monthly subscription fee to access the platform and negotiate with sellers. Sellers are not charged any success or transaction fees.
2. Optional Paid Support Services: Optional fee-based services including matching assistance, expert consultations, and AI-assisted listing support for sellers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

TRANBI operates an online marketplace platform that connects individual buyers and SME sellers for business succession and small-scale M&A transactions in Japan. The platform enables anonymous matching, NDA execution, negotiation, and deal closure across 3,000+ active business listings, supported by AI-assisted listing creation, valuation tools, and optional paid matching and consultation services. Buyers pay a monthly subscription while sellers use the platform free with no success fees.

Product overview

TRANBI operates as a unified M&A and business succession platform combining a core matching and negotiation marketplace with multiple integrated modules. The main platform enables buyers and sellers to discover opportunities, negotiate deals, and complete transactions, supported by an AI-powered registration assistant (beta), business valuation tools, and matching agent services. Supplementary offerings include e-learning educational content, community forums (副業部 and M&Aな部), expert consultation services, and a dedicated credit union channel (しんきんトラビ). The platform is designed to make M&A accessible to first-time users, featuring over 200,000 members, 3,000+ listed projects, and no success fees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• しんきんトランビ: Credit union partner version of TRANBI for regional bank customers

Products and services

• M&A Matching & Negotiation Platform TRANBI's core online marketplace where individual buyers and SME sellers discover, negotiate, and close business succession and M&A deals. Supports anonymous initial outreach, NDA execution, negotiation workflow, and completion of the transaction between registered members; free for sellers and gated by a monthly subscription for buyers.
• Matching Agent Service (マッチング代行) Optional paid service in which TRANBI staff assist sellers in finding suitable buyers and managing initial outreach on the platform. Bridges the self-serve marketplace model with hands-on guided support for sellers who need additional help completing a sale.
• M&A Consultation Services (M&A相談サービス) Paid consultation service that connects buyers and sellers with M&A professionals such as accountants, tax advisors, business brokers, and business regeneration specialists for guidance during deal preparation, valuation, due diligence, and execution.

Quantifiable outcome

• Average of ~15 negotiation inquiries per listing
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ココホレジャパン社 (Cocohele Japan)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 July 2025TRANBI entered a business partnership with Cocohele Japan, the operator of the 'Nippon Keigyo Bank' (ニホン継業バンク) platform, to jointly promote business succession solutions and expand support for entrepreneurs seeking to take over existing businesses.
• 館林市 (Tatebayashi City)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 June 2025TRANBI entered into a business succession coordination agreement with Tatebayashi City, collaborating on initiatives to support local SME owners facing succession challenges and promote the platform within the municipality.
• Shinkin Banks (150+ regional credit unions)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorTRANBI has established partnerships with over 150 Shinkin (regional credit union) banks across Japan. Each bank uses a dedicated co-branded portal (shinkin.tranbi.com) with unique referral codes to direct their SME clients seeking business succession support to register on TRANBI. This partnership serves as TRANBI's primary offline distribution channel into Japan's regional SME owner base.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Nihon M&A Center (日本M&Aセンター): Japan's largest M&A intermediary, focused on SME succession. Comparable as both operate in Japan SME business succession M&A, but Nihon M&A Center handles much larger deals and uses an advisor-led model with success fees, whereas TRANBI is a self-serve subscription marketplace for small-ticket deals.
• M&A Capital Partners (M&Aキャピタルパートナーズ): Listed Japanese M&A advisory specializing in SME succession. Comparable to TRANBI in addressing Japan's business succession market, but operates an advisor-driven model targeting mid-market deals, whereas TRANBI is a digital marketplace for individual/small-deal buyers.
• BizBuySell: Largest US business-for-sale marketplace. BROAD_INCUMBENT comparable to TRANBI in operating a two-sided online marketplace for business transfer, but at much larger scale, broader business categories, and primarily US-focused geography.

Direct peers

• M&A総合研究所: Digital-first Japanese M&A intermediary with both online matching and advisory services. Directly comparable to TRANBI as a digital-native M&A platform serving SME succession in Japan, with overlapping customer segments and revenue model (subscription + success fees).
• M&Aクラウド: Digital M&A platform operating an online matching marketplace alongside advisory services in Japan. Direct competitor to TRANBI in the online M&A marketplace category, with similar buyer/seller matchmaking functionality and SME succession focus.
• BATONZ: Japanese online M&A marketplace for SME succession and small business transfers. Direct competitor with near-identical product offering — buyers and sellers match online — competing head-to-head with TRANBI for low-to-mid ticket Japanese SME deals.
• M&Aナビ: Online M&A matching platform for Japanese SMEs. Comparable to TRANBI as a digital M&A marketplace serving business succession buyers and sellers, with similar subscription / fee model and listing-based matching mechanics.
• M&A ROUTE: Japanese online M&A marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of small businesses. Comparable to TRANBI as a digital matchmaking platform for SME and individual M&A, with similar self-serve marketplace mechanics.
• Acquire.com: Leading global online marketplace for buying and selling startups/SaaS businesses. Direct international peer to TRANBI in business model (self-serve M&A marketplace with subscription / success-fee monetization), though focused on tech/SaaS startups rather than Japanese SMEs.

Emerging players

• 日本継業銀行 (Cocohele Japan): Operator of the Nippon Keigyo Bank business succession platform. EMERGING_PLAYER as an adjacent emerging platform; TRANBI has an active partnership with them (announced 2025-07-10) for joint succession support, making them both a partner and partial competitor in the Japanese SME succession space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/tranbi_tw
• Facebookfacebook.com/tranbima
• Instagraminstagram.com/tranbi_ma
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tranbi

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about TRANBI