Hello

What Hello does

Hello, Inc. is a Tokyo-headquartered AI-native company (founded June 20, 2018) that builds software for the restaurant and hospitality industry, with a portfolio spanning consumer reservations, restaurant operations SaaS, voice-AI customer support, and payment processing. Its consumer product, AutoReserve, uses proprietary voice AI to call restaurants directly on users' behalf across 110+ countries and 2M+ bookable restaurants, supporting 11+ languages including Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, French, Italian, Spanish, and German; the platform surpassed 5M registered users and 1M+ AI-powered reservations as of February 2026. Respo (by AutoReserve) is an all-in-one restaurant operations platform combining reservation ledger, channel manager, POS, payment terminals, and mobile ordering, with a freee Accounting API integration for automated journal entries; core features became free across Japan in May 2026, and the platform surpassed 3,000 partner restaurants by August 2025.

The underlying technology stack is React/Next.js (App Router), React Native via Expo for iOS/Android, PostgreSQL, Ruby on Rails, TypeScript, SWR, Cloudflare Workers/Vercel, and Twilio/Asterisk for telephony. HelloX (Hello Voice) extends the same voice-AI foundation into enterprise customer support, handling inbound and outbound phone calls end-to-end including after-call work (CRM logging, next-day call list generation); deployed customers include Oisix ra daichi (~5,000 collection calls/month) and F garden group (~1,800 front-desk calls/month). HelloPay is the company's payment processing rail, handling approximately ¥100B in annual transaction volume at industry-low rates via a simple API supporting cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and subscription billing.

Hello monetizes through a mix of payment processing fees (HelloPay), per-reservation transaction and affiliate fees on AutoReserve (¥10/head domestic, ¥76/head international), enterprise contracts for HelloX, and (historically) subscription pricing for Respo — though Respo's core feature set is now free across Japan as a deliberate land-grab to consolidate restaurant data. The company operates wholly-owned subsidiaries in London (Hello AI Limited, est. 2024), Seoul (Hello Korea, Inc.), and Taipei (Hello Taiwan, Inc.), and achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification in April 2025 covering its AI-powered web systems. Note that source materials also reference a separate Chinese "Hello" autonomous-vehicle entity backed by CATL, Ant Group, and Alibaba (~US$3.5B raised); based on Tokyo domicile, hello.ai website, and the 2018 founding date in the firmographic record, this analysis is scoped to the Japanese restaurant-tech business.

Name

Hello

Legal name

株式会社ハロー (Hello Co., Ltd.)

Website

https://hello.ai

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hello, Inc. builds AI-native software for restaurants and hospitality, including AutoReserve (voice-AI reservations across 110+ countries), Respo (all-in-one restaurant operations SaaS), HelloX (voice-AI phone support for enterprises), and HelloPay (payment processing).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Restaurant Technology

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Contact Center Speech AI (agent assist, IVR automation) (HDAAAFAL)

Keywords

• Restaurant reservation platform
• Restaurant management software
• AI voice agents
• Payment processing services
• Restaurant POS systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. AutoReserve Transaction & Affiliate Fees: AutoReserve earns transaction fees from restaurant reservations. For external affiliate partners embedding the 'Reserve' button, Hello pays referral fees: 10 JPY per person for Japanese customers, 76 JPY per person for inbound international visitors. The service also supports a gourmet affiliate program where referrers earn rewards based on referred users' booking performance.
2. Respo Payment Processing (HelloPay / RespoPay): Respo's payment terminals and HelloPay service generate revenue through payment processing fees on restaurant transactions. As of 2025, HelloPay processes approximately 100 billion JPY annually, with the company claiming industry-leading low processing rates. Fees are charged as a percentage of each transaction processed.
3. HelloX Subscription / Per-Call Pricing: HelloX AI customer support agent is provided to enterprises and SMBs, likely on a subscription or usage-based model. Dedicated AI consultants provide implementation support as part of the service offering.
4. Platform Partnership / Affiliate Revenue Share: Platform partners (e.g., MATCHA) embed the AutoReserve reservation button and earn commission on reservations made through their platform. This creates a B2B2C revenue channel.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Hello develops and operates AI-powered software products for the restaurant and hospitality industry. Its core offering consists of AutoReserve (a global AI restaurant reservation service that uses voice AI to call restaurants on behalf of users), Respo (an all-in-one restaurant management SaaS with reservation ledger, channel manager, POS, and payment terminals), HelloX (a voice AI customer support agent for enterprises), and HelloPay (payment processing infrastructure). The company also maintains a robotaxi autonomous vehicle division backed by Alibaba and Ant Group.

Product overview

Hello, Inc. operates a multi-product portfolio centered on AI-native services for the restaurant and hospitality industry, expanded to include an autonomous vehicle (robotaxi) division. The core offering is AutoReserve, an AI-powered global restaurant reservation service that uses voice AI to call restaurants directly on users' behalf. This is supported by Respo, an all-in-one restaurant management SaaS (reservation ledger, POS, channel manager, payment terminals, mobile ordering) that integrates with freee Accounting via API. HelloX is a voice AI customer support agent for enterprises and SMBs that handles full inbound/outbound telephone operations including post-call administrative work. HelloPay provides payment processing infrastructure. AutoReserve Magazine publishes multilingual editorial content connected to one-click reservations. A robotaxi unit (backed by Ant Group and Alibaba) is developing LLM-inspired autonomous vehicles. All services are tied together through a unified AI-first product philosophy, with shared data infrastructure (customer/reservation data, multilingual AI models) and cross-product synergies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AutoReserve: AI-powered restaurant reservation service allowing users to make reservations at restaurants worldwide. Supports multiple languages including Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Thai. The service serves 3.1 million+ registered users across 110 countries with access to over 2.5 million restaurants.
• Respo
• HelloX
• HelloPay

Products and services

• AutoReserve AI-powered restaurant reservation service that books restaurants on behalf of users worldwide via voice AI calling restaurants directly. Offers multilingual support across 11 languages (Japanese, English, Chinese, Korean, Thai, French, Italian, Spanish, German), landmark-based restaurant search, and direct in-article reservations for partner platforms. Serves 5M+ registered users across 110+ countries.
• Respo All-in-one restaurant management platform providing reservation ledger, channel manager, POS, payment terminals, and mobile ordering in a single integrated system. Supports freee Accounting API integration for automated journal entries. Used by 3,000+ contracted restaurants in Japan including multi-location groups like Kyoto Yamagishi Group.
• HelloX (Hello Voice) AI-powered voice customer support agent that handles inbound and outbound phone calls end-to-end, including post-call administrative work (ACW) such as CRM logging, staff notifications, and next-day call list generation. Targets enterprises and SMBs across multiple industries including hospitality, subscription services, and retail.
• HelloPay Payment processing service handling approximately ¥100 billion JPY in annual transactions at industry-low rates. Supports credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and subscription billing via a simple API. Integrated within the Respo ecosystem for restaurant checkout and payment terminal operations.
• Hello Robotaxi Unit Autonomous vehicle division developing robotaxis using large language model-inspired AI and sensor fusion technology. Backed by Ant Financial with Alibaba investment. Co-developing smart driving models with mass production targeted for 2025 and 50,000 unit deployment by 2027.
• AutoReserve Affiliate API External-facing API enabling any platform to embed AutoReserve's 'Book a Reservation' button. Free to integrate, with affiliate commissions paid per reservation (¥10/head for domestic users, ¥76/head for international visitors). Powers white-label restaurant reservations within third-party travel and media platforms.

Quantifiable outcome

• AutoReserve surpassed 5 million registered users and 1 million AI-powered reservations
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability11 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor, major and core.

• RubyKaigi 2026minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 22 April 2026Hello sponsored RubyKaigi 2026 (world's largest Ruby programming language conference) as a Gold Sponsor and hosted the 'Hello Drink Up' after-party event in Hakodate, Hokkaido. Supports Ruby community engagement and engineering employer branding.
• CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 July 2025CATL, the world's dominant EV battery supplier, formed a robotaxi joint venture with Hello and Ant Group. CATL provides battery infrastructure and data assets from 17M+ installed batteries, while Hello contributes AI/autonomous driving technology. This is a separate initiative from Hello, Inc.'s core restaurant tech business — appears to involve a Chinese autonomous vehicle entity also named Hello.
• 株式会社MATCHAcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 29 June 2020AutoReserve's first external API partnership. MATCHA (Japan's largest inbound tourism media with 340万+ monthly visitors across 240+ countries) embedded the AutoReserve 'Reserve' button within articles, enabling multilingual restaurant reservations for international visitors without leaving the platform.
• freee K.K.coreTechnology or IntegrationRespo (Hello's restaurant platform) launched API integration with freee Accounting. Daily sales data from Respo automatically syncs to freee Accounting for automated journal entries. Automatically assigns correct account titles (Sales, Commissions Paid) and tax categories (standard 10%, reduced 8%).

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• TableCheck: Japan's most direct competitor in restaurant reservation and table management software for both restaurants and diners. Both companies pursue the same dual-sided strategy — serving consumers (search/booking) and restaurants (operations) — and compete for the same premium Japanese restaurant group accounts (e.g., Michelin-tier operators like Kyoto Yamagishi are won or lost between the two).
• Toreta: Japan-based restaurant reservation/CRM platform focused on independent and chain restaurants. Closely overlapping product surface with Hello's Respo and competing for the same SMB Japanese restaurant customer base.
• Cresta: US-based AI platform for contact-center agent assist and conversation intelligence. Most direct global competitor to HelloX's value proposition of augmenting phone-based customer operations with AI, including real-time agent assist, post-call summarization, and automation.
• PolyAI: Voice-AI platform building fully autonomous conversational agents for enterprise customer support (hospitality, restaurants, retail). Directly comparable to HelloX in deploying end-customer-facing voice agents in hospitality/restaurant front-desk and reservation contexts.
• Resy: Restaurant reservation platform with strong premium-diner brand (owned by American Express). Competes with AutoReserve for inbound traveler mindshare in major cities and shares a similar approach of curated restaurant content (editorial) plus reservation technology.
• Tock: Reservation and table-management platform with deep penetration among Michelin-starred and chef-driven restaurants globally. Comparable positioning to Hello's premium-dining Respo deployments (Kyoto Yamagishi, Savoy) and competing for the same high-end operator segment.

Broad incumbents

• Recruit (Hot Pepper / AirREGI / RESERVA): Japanese conglomerate operating the dominant restaurant-tech stack (Hot Pepper Gourmet, AirREGI POS, RESERVA reservations) serving hundreds of thousands of SMB restaurants. As a wide-portfolio incumbent with massive distribution and an installed base, it is the main incumbent Hello's Respo free-tier strategy must displace.
• OpenTable: Global category-defining restaurant reservation platform owned by Booking Holdings, serving diners and restaurants across 20+ countries. AutoReserve competes with OpenTable for inbound international travelers booking restaurants in Japan and for premium international restaurant inventory.
• Toast: US-based all-in-one restaurant operating system (POS, payments, online ordering, reservations) and publicly traded comp for Hello's Respo + HelloPay bundle. Relevant as a public-market reference point for valuing a unified, payments-monetized restaurant SaaS stack.

Emerging players

• Square for Restaurants: Block-owned POS + integrated payments offering for restaurants, frequently bundled with reservation and ordering tools. Comparable as a global, payments-led restaurant stack competing with Respo's free core + HelloPay processing model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/helloaiinc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@autoreserve
• Instagraminstagram.com/autoreserve
• TikToktiktok.com/@auto_reserve
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hello-ai-ltd

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Hello