Kiri

What Kiri does

KIRI (株式会社KIRI) is a private Japanese company founded in March 2017 and headquartered in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, with a Tokyo branch office in Minato-ku. The company's core product is AIagri., a LINE-based agricultural part-time job matching service that connects farmers facing labor shortages with individuals seeking casual or one-day agricultural work. Job seekers register, search, and apply entirely through LINE without interviews or resumes; farmers can post job listings by phone or fax, accommodating elderly producers without internet access. KIRI holds a paid employment placement business license (有料職業紹介事業許可, number 38-ユ-300150) and a regional travel agency registration, enabling it to monetize via job placement fees and operate adjacent tourism services.

The business operates a hybrid go-to-market that combines self-serve digital onboarding (LINE) with partner-driven distribution. Bank business matching contracts with Iyo Bank, Tokushima Taisho Bank, Kagawa Bank, Chikubo Bank, plus partnerships with NTT DOCOMO shops and agricultural retailer Green Center Ten-to-mushi, function as physical customer acquisition channels across rural Shikoku and into Kyushu. Earned media coverage (NHK Matsuyama, Nikkei Shikoku, Mainichi Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Chijou agricultural technology magazine) is a primary awareness driver. The company is bootstrapped, with a single small funding event in June 2022 (~$51,814) and registered capital of ¥2,000,000; ownership is concentrated with co-founders/representative directors Nakano Yasumasa (中野泰誠) and Kato Takafumi (加藤貴文), with Takahashi Daiki (高橋大希) responsible for AIagri. operations.

Beyond AIagri., KIRI operates a small portfolio of regional activation services: an online learning platform (Ehime Online Classroom, launched April 2020 during COVID-19 school closures), and a VR-based Setouchi craft beer tourism experience via the ERTC consortium. These are supplementary to the core agricultural matching business and do not appear to be material revenue contributors. AIagri. itself has scaled from a single-prefecture launch in Ehime (May 2020) to full Shikoku coverage by May 2024, with cumulative referrals on the order of ~5,000 in Ehime and ~226 in Tokushima as of May 2022.

Name

Kiri

Legal name

株式会社KIRI（カブシキガイシャ キリ）

Website

https://kiri-ltd.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Short description

KIRI operates AIagri., a LINE-based agricultural part-time job matching service in Japan's Shikoku region. The licensed paid employment agency connects farmers (via phone/fax job postings) with casual workers (via LINE applications) across Ehime, Tokushima, Kagawa, and Kochi prefectures, supported by regional bank and NTT DOCOMO partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural staffing and labor matching services

NAICS

Support Activities for Crop Production (11511)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm Technology Enablement & Data Integration Advisory (FMIS/ERP, IoT, Decision Support) (AFACAJAG)

Keywords

• Agricultural labor matching
• Part-time job placement
• LINE-based recruitment
• Regional employment services
• Farm worker staffing

Headquarters

HQ city

Matsuyama

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Agricultural Part-time Job Placement Fee: AIagri. generates revenue through job placement fees as a licensed employment agency (有料職業紹介). Farmers pay for successfully matched part-time workers. Service launched May 2020 in Ehime Prefecture, expanded to Tokushima (Feb 2022) and Kagawa (June 2022).

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Kiri's core offering is AIagri., a licensed agricultural part-time job matching service that connects farmers in Japan's Shikoku region with individuals seeking flexible agricultural work. Job seekers register, search and apply entirely through LINE without interviews or resumes, while farmers can post listings by phone or fax. The company also operates the Ehime Online Classroom tutoring service and a VR-based Setouchi craft beer tourism experience as supporting portfolio lines.

Product overview

Kiri operates a portfolio of regional activation services in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. The core product is AIagri., an agricultural part-time job matching platform that connects farmers with workers via LINE. Supporting services include えひめオンライン教室 (online learning platform for students), smartphone training classes, and VR-based regional tourism experiences like the Ehime Craft Beer Tourism. The company also operates a travel agency business and holds paid employment placement and travel agency licenses.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AIagri.（アイアグリ）: Agricultural part-time job matching service that connects farmers with temporary workers via LINE. Farmers can post job listings by phone/fax, and job seekers can search and apply through LINE.

Products and services

• AIagri. (アイアグリ) Agricultural part-time job matching service connecting farmers in Japan's Shikoku region (Ehime, Tokushima, Kagawa, Kochi) with individuals seeking flexible short-term farm work; job seekers apply via LINE without interviews or resumes, and farmers can post listings by phone or fax.
• Ehime Online Classroom (えひめオンライン教室) Online self-study and one-on-one tutoring service for elementary and middle school students in Ehime Prefecture, delivered via video conferencing; started as a free service during COVID-19 school closures.
• Setouchi Craft Beer VR Cruise Tour (せとうち風まち・潮まちクルーズ) VR-enabled experiential online tour that combines craft beer tourism with Ehime's history, culture, and nature; developed as part of the Ehime Regional Revitalization Inbound Consortium (ERTC) selected by Japan's Tourism Agency.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 5,000 cumulative job seekers registered and workers referred to farms in Ehime Prefecture within first 2 years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered key, core, strategic and minor.

• NTT DOCOMO Shikoku Branch (株式会社NTTドーム四国支社)keyChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 24 May 2024Business partnership agreement signed May 24, 2024. DOCOMO shops in Kochi Prefecture introduce AIagri. service to visitors and provide application support, aiming to address agricultural labor shortages in Kochi.
• Chikubō Bank (株式会社筑邦銀行)keyChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 28 February 2023Business matching contract for introducing AIagri. to Chikubō Bank's business customers in Fukuoka Prefecture, expanding service reach to Kyushu region farmers.
• Japan D-R System / Green Center Ten-to-mushi (日本ディーアールシステム株式会社)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 7 July 2022Business partnership with agricultural retail chain Green Center Ten-to-mushi in Ehime Prefecture. Introduces AIagri. to agricultural business customers through store network.
• Tomon Holdings / Tokushima Taisho Bank / Kagawa Bank (トモニホールディングス株式会社/株式会社徳島大正銀行/株式会社香川銀行)keyChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 June 2022Business matching partnerships with regional banks in Tokushima and Kagawa prefectures for AIagri. service promotion to their agricultural business customers.
• NPO Bou Shisutemu (特定非営利活動法人 ぶうしすてむ)strategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 December 2021Partnership for agricultural welfare (農福連携) initiatives. Bou Shisutemu provides digital work services to support agricultural operations, expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
• Iyo Bank (株式会社伊予銀行)keyChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 15 November 2021Business matching contract with Iyo Bank (headquartered in Matsuyama, Ehime) to introduce AIagri. to bank's agricultural business customers, supporting regional agriculture.
• HIS, ABC Frontier, Hacosco, Ehime Tourism Association (株式会社エイチ・アイ・エス/株式会社ABCフロンティア/株式会社ハコスコ/愛媛県観光物産協会)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 October 2021Ehime Regional Revitalization Inbound Consortium (ERTC) for VR-based craft beer tourism experience. KIRI provides local network and tourism expertise.
• Pasona Nouentai (株式会社パソナ農援隊)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEvent participation at Pasona Nouentai's new farmer events, introducing AIagri. service to aspiring agricultural workers.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Hello Work (ハローワーク): Hello Work is Japan's government-run nationwide employment service that handles agricultural job placements among many other sectors. It competes for the same casual and seasonal agricultural worker pool as KIRI, though with much heavier administrative processes (interviews, resumes) that AIagri. specifically aims to bypass.
• Indeed Japan: Indeed Japan is a broad-incumbent job search platform that includes agricultural postings and competes for the same casual worker audience as AIagri. While it lacks KIRI's LINE-native UX and elderly-farmer phone/fax intake, it offers a much larger employer footprint and search-driven discovery.
• JA Group 緑の雇用 (Midori no Koyou): The JA Group's Midori no Koyou (Green Employment) program is Japan's largest agricultural employment initiative, operated through Japan's agricultural cooperative network. It overlaps with KIRI's mission of placing workers onto farms, but operates at far larger scale and through a cooperative rather than a transactional matching platform.

Emerging players

• NouWorks (農Works): NouWorks is an emerging Japanese agricultural HR platform focused on connecting producers with workers, including through corporate farming and labor matching programs. It overlaps with KIRI's farmer-labor matching mission but tends to focus on more structured corporate farming arrangements rather than casual part-time work.
• Waki Now (わきNow): Waki Now is an emerging Japan-focused platform for matching casual and part-time workers with rural and agricultural employers. It overlaps with AIagri.'s casual-worker value proposition but serves multiple regions and industries rather than specializing in agriculture.

Direct peers

• Agri-Journal 農業求人: Agri-Journal operates Japan's most prominent agricultural job board and recruitment media, directly competing with AIagri. for placement of workers on Japanese farms. Both target the same farmers seeking labor and job seekers seeking casual agricultural work, primarily through digital channels.
• Pasona Nouentai: Pasona Nouentai is a direct competitor in the Japanese agricultural labor matching and new farmer support space, running events and matching programs for aspiring agricultural workers — overlapping directly with AIagri.'s farmer-to-worker matching mission. KIRI already lists Pasona Nouentai as a channel partner, confirming market overlap.

Regional players

• Taiken (タイケン) 農業派遣: Taiken operates agricultural worker dispatch and placement services in regional Japan, competing with KIRI for the same farmer customer base in certain prefectures. As a licensed dispatch operator it shares KIRI's regulatory positioning but tends to focus on longer-term placements rather than casual one-day work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

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 Kiri