NAXA
NAXA builds proprietary Japanese-language AI tools — Subtitle Generator, Clip Generator, and Meta Data Generator — for TV broadcasters and entertainment companies in Japan, automating subtitle creation, short-form video production, and archive search. The company sells enterprise SaaS plus custom system development, and was acquired by CyberStep in 2026.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What NAXA does
NAXA株式会社 (NAXA Inc.) is a Tokyo-based AI startup, founded in October 2021, that builds AI-powered production and archive tools for the Japanese broadcasting and entertainment industry. The company sells three proprietary products — Subtitle Generator (AI subtitle creation), Short Video Generator / Clip Generator (automatic vertical short-form video creation from long-form content), and Meta Data Generator (AI-generated scene-by-scene metadata and search for decades of broadcast archive) — all built on a proprietary Japanese-language speech recognition engine and a broadcast-specialized OCR engine. The technology stack supports ARIB STD-B36-compliant subtitle output, hybrid cloud/on-premise deployment for content security, and integrations with YouTube, TikTok, ODA/LTO/NAS archives, and ARIB TR-B14 metadata standards. Core reference customers include NHK group entities, TV Tokyo, TV Osaka, Kansai Television, Hokkaido Broadcasting (UHB), and Japan Television Film.
NAXA monetizes through a mix of subscription SaaS (Subtitle Generator, Clip Generator with a fixed monthly fee covering up to 100 video uploads), customized enterprise system development, marketing/advertising operations support (including digital placement advertising inherited from its 2023 merger with Hinagiku Co., Ltd.), and co-creation new-venture development with major industry partners. Go-to-market is sales-led and event-driven: the company sells direct to TV stations and entertainment companies, runs pilots that convert into deployments (TV Osaka, UHB case studies), and actively exhibits at Inter BEE, KBEE, Interop Tokyo, and AWS Summit Tokyo. Its 36-person team is engineer-heavy (21 engineers, 7 AI engineers) with above-market compensation (minimum 400,000 JPY/month, reports of 24-year-olds earning 10M JPY), and operates from a Shibuya, Tokyo headquarters following two prior relocations.
In October 2024, founder Shunpei Urabe handed the CEO role to Shoya Nakamura (previously Hinagiku CEO), and in 2026 NAXA was acquired by CyberStep for $2M to strengthen development resources. Key partners include AWS (core cloud infrastructure), Japan Television Film (co-marketing), NEC, SoftBank, NRI, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, while the company has won the Interbee Award (2025) for its exhibited AI solutions.
NAXA firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NAXA
- Legal name
- NAXA株式会社
- Website
- https://naxa.co.jp
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- NAXA builds proprietary Japanese-language AI tools — Subtitle Generator, Clip Generator, and Meta Data Generator — for TV broadcasters and entertainment companies in Japan, automating subtitle creation, short-form video production, and archive search. The company sells enterprise SaaS plus custom system development, and was acquired by CyberStep in 2026.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NAXA industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Broadcast Software and Media Production AI
- NAICS
- Motion Picture and Sound Recording Industries (512), Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Short-Form Video Publishing, Scheduling & Cross-Posting Tools (MPACAHAF)
Keywords
Where NAXA is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tokyo
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices1 record
Markets served
NAXA business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Development for Broadcasters: Custom software development services for TV stations and broadcasting companies, including streaming platform development and system integration.
- Subtitle Generator SaaS: AI subtitle generation software provided as a service, with features like transcription accuracy reaching 99% for certain programs.
- Short Video Generator Subscription: AI short video generation service with tiered pricing based on upload volume (up to 100 videos).
- Marketing and Advertising Operations Support: Marketing and advertising operation support services including digital placement advertising.
- Co-creation Business (New Business Development): Joint business development with major industry partners, creating new ventures leveraging entertainment industry assets combined with digital technology.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Short Video Generator - Fixed monthly plan covering up to 100 video uploads |
| Other | Monthly | Engineer compensation starting at 400,000 JPY monthly |
| Other | Monthly | Internship positions |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
NAXA product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NAXA develops and sells AI-powered software products for the Japanese broadcasting and entertainment industry. Its core offerings include Subtitle Generator (AI-driven Japanese subtitle production), Short Video/Clip Generator (automatic highlight-based short-form video creation for social media), and Meta Data Generator (AI metadata extraction and archival for broadcast content). The company also provides custom system development services leveraging proprietary Japanese speech recognition and OCR engines, plus new business co-creation partnerships with industry leaders.
Product overview
NAXA offers a unified AI-powered media production platform with three core proprietary products: Subtitle Generator (AI subtitle generation), Short Video Generator/Clip Generator (AI short video creation), and Meta Data Generator (AI metadata archive). These products share foundational technologies including a proprietary Japanese speech recognition engine and specialized OCR engine for broadcast content. The platform is complemented by system development services and new business co-creation offerings. NAXA specializes in digital transformation solutions for the broadcast and entertainment industry, leveraging AI to automate labor-intensive workflows including transcription, video editing, and content archival.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Subtitle Generator: AI-powered subtitle generation software for broadcast television with transcription accuracy over 90%
- Clip Generator
- Meta Data Generator
Products and services
- Subtitle Generator AI-powered subtitle generation software using NAXA's proprietary Japanese speech recognition engine; automates transcription, timecoding, speaker recognition, telop avoidance/enhancement, ruby annotation, and layout customization for broadcast subtitle production. Achieves 90%+ transcription accuracy (up to 99% for certain programs) with ARIB, NAB, SRT, and VTT format export. Customizable per station production rules.
- Short Video Generator (Clip Generator) AI-powered automatic short video generation service that detects highlight scenes in long-form video content and produces vertical short videos optimized for social media distribution. Includes automatic scene detection, landscape-to-portrait conversion, BGM insertion, telop overlay, auto thumbnail generation, and direct one-click posting to YouTube and TikTok. Achieves 90%+ workflow efficiency improvement for marketing and promotion staff. Subscription pricing covers up to 100 video uploads per month.
- Meta Data Generator
Quantifiable outcome
- 90%+ workflow efficiency improvement for short video content creation
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use NAXA
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
NAXA technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
AI capability12 records
Feature7 records
NAXA partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, core, key and supporting.
- Japan Television Film (日本映画放送)majorJoint presentation at Interop Tokyo 2026 Internet x Media Summit on AI活用 in broadcasting. Japan Television Film uses NAXA's Subtitle Generator, Clip Generator, and voice synthesis solutions. Case study partner for AI subtitle generation and short video creation workflows.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreAWS is a key cloud infrastructure partner providing the foundation for NAXA's AI services. NAXA provided technical support for AWS Summit Tokyo 2024 Media Entertainment booth, showcasing generative AI, ultra-low latency streaming, and digital placement technologies. Joint sessions at Internet x Media Summit and KBEE exhibitions. AWS solutions architecture supporting NAXA's broadcast AI solutions.
- Hinagiku Co., Ltd. (株式会社雛菊)coreNAXA merged with Hinagiku through business integration. Hinagiku's digital placement services and AI consulting business were absorbed into NAXA. This brought next-generation advertising technology and ML expertise into NAXA's portfolio. Hinagiku CEO Nakamura (now NAXA CEO) led the integration to accelerate AI technology evolution.
- NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation)keyNHK is listed as a key partner/sponsor on NAXA's website. Collaborative relationship on broadcasting innovation initiatives.
- TV Tokyo (テレビ東京)keyTV Tokyo is a customer and partner using NAXA's subtitle generation and content solutions.
- NECsupportingNEC is listed as a sponsor and technology partner for NAXA's initiatives.
- SoftBanksupportingSoftBank is listed as a sponsor and marketing partner.
- Hokkaido Broadcasting / UHB (北海道文化放送)keyCustomer implementing Subtitle Generator. Conducted interview case study on AI subtitle workflow implementation. Successfully reduced subtitle production burden for ~50 programs annually.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
NAXA competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Rev: Transcription and captioning services combining AI and human workflows for media and enterprise customers. Comparable business model combining automated transcription with media-industry delivery.
- Descript: AI-powered video and podcast editing platform with transcription-based workflow. Comparable in AI-driven media production automation, though broader than broadcast and less Japanese-specialized.
- Otter.ai: AI meeting and conversation transcription service with Japanese language support. Comparable AI transcription technology, though focused on meetings rather than broadcast video subtitling.
- CapCut (ByteDance): AI-powered short video creation tool with auto-captioning and aspect ratio conversion. Direct functional overlap with NAXA's Short Video Generator / Clip Generator, though serving consumer/creator workflows rather than broadcasters.
Emerging players
- Deepgram: AI speech recognition API for developers with customizable models. Comparable as an ASR technology vendor with potential overlap in broadcast video transcription workloads.
Direct peers
- Speechmatics: Speech recognition technology provider with strong multilingual ASR including Japanese. Comparable as a speech-recognition technology vendor competing for the same Japanese ASR workloads NAXA's engine targets.
- Amberscript: European AI-powered transcription and subtitling company offering automated and human-in-the-loop captioning for media, broadcasters, and enterprise. Directly comparable as a SaaS subtitling/transcription vendor serving media customers.
- Verbit: AI transcription and captioning platform with vertical specialization across media, legal, and education. Comparable as a verticalized AI transcription SaaS serving broadcast and media customers.
- AI Media: UK-based provider of captioning, subtitling, and transcription services for broadcasters and live events. Comparable as a broadcast-focused AI/human captioning vendor with similar media-industry customer base.
- Rimo: Japanese AI captioning and transcription service with direct overlap in Japanese-language speech-to-text for video. Rimo focuses on meeting and video transcription, making it a comparable AI-first Japanese ASR peer in the same language domain.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
NAXA social profiles
Digital presenceNAXA compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
NAXA financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NAXA leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
NAXA funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NAXA 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 NAXA
What does NAXA do?
NAXA develops and sells AI-powered software products for the Japanese broadcasting and entertainment industry. Its core offerings include Subtitle Generator (AI-driven Japanese subtitle production), Short Video/Clip Generator (automatic highlight-based short-form video creation for social media), and Meta Data Generator (AI metadata extraction and archival for broadcast content). The company also provides custom system development services leveraging proprietary Japanese speech recognition and OCR engines, plus new business co-creation partnerships with industry leaders.
Is NAXA a public or private company?
NAXA is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was NAXA founded?
NAXA was founded in 2021. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is NAXA based?
NAXA is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does NAXA make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Software Development for Broadcasters are the primary driver. The others are subtitle Generator SaaS, short Video Generator Subscription, marketing and Advertising Operations Support and co-creation Business (New Business Development).
Who are NAXA's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Rev, Descript, Otter.ai and CapCut (ByteDance). Deepgram is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Speechmatics, Amberscript, Verbit, AI Media and Rimo.
Does NAXA have an API?
No public API is recorded for NAXA.
What industry is NAXA in?
NAXA's product category is Broadcast Software and Media Production AI. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPACAHAF, Short-Form Video Publishing, Scheduling & Cross-Posting Tools. Its NAICS code is 512 and its SIC code is 7812.