What Actis does

Actis (株式会社アクティス) is a small Japanese venture company founded in April 2016 by Jin Goto (後藤仁) in Tokushima Prefecture, with registered capital of 9.8 million yen and 100% founder ownership. The company developed and manufactured the Bio-Swab line (CS-50 and CS-60C), a scraping-type microorganism collection kit using plastic microfiber flat-spatula tips and a board-like shaft that achieves approximately 10x the collection rate of conventional wiping-type swabs. The CS-60C model is cleanroom-compatible (Class 100 environment, triple-wrapped). A second product, the PBS-01 pork detection wipe kit for halal compliance verification, was discontinued in December 2020. Core technology is covered by patent application 特願2016-149252 filed July 2016.

The company serves niche B2B segments including pharmaceutical and biotechnology cleanrooms, food safety/halal certification testing, university research laboratories, and medical/quarantine inspection. Products are priced at a roughly 10x premium over low-cost alternatives and are sold exclusively through distributor partners — primarily NTT-AT Creative Corporation, with additional distribution through Analysis Workshop, L'Mex, and MA FOODS Consulting. Actis is physically located within the NTT-AT Creative building and also performs contract development of dust samplers and dust detection products for NTT-AT Creative.

In March 2025, Actis discontinued manufacturing of Bio-Swab products and on April 1, 2025 launched a consulting services business leveraging former NTT Group company executives' expertise in visible foreign matter countermeasures, programming, and related technical areas. The company has received multiple regional awards (notably the 2021 Shikoku Regional Invention Award — SME Minister's Award) and government grants, but has no external equity funding and operates at small scale.

Name

Actis

Legal name

株式会社　アクティス

Website

https://actis-tokushima.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Actis is a small Japanese venture founded in 2016 in Tokushima that developed Bio-Swab scraping-type microorganism collection kits, discontinued manufacturing in March 2025, and pivoted to consulting services leveraging former NTT Group executive expertise in contamination control.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Microbiological Sampling Equipment

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841)

akta.pro primary industry

Surface Swab Testing & Contact Plate Sampling Services (AFALAEAC)

Keywords

• Microbial sampling kits
• Cleanroom collection swabs
• Halal detection kits
• Biofilm sampling tools
• Microbiological testing supplies

Headquarters

HQ city

Itano

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Microorganism Collection Kit Sales: Sale of Bio-Swab products (CS-50, CS-60C) and pig detection wipe test kits through distribution partners. Bio-Swab manufacturing ended March 2025. Pricing is approximately 10x higher than low-cost alternatives.
2. Consulting Services: New consulting business started April 1, 2025, leveraging accumulated experience and knowledge from former NTT Group company executives. Services include visible foreign matter countermeasures, programming, and other consulting areas.
3. Contract Development (業務請負): Contracted development of dust samplers and duscar products for NTT-AT Creative Corporation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Actis develops, manufactures, and sells specialized microorganism collection swab kits (Bio-Swab CS-50 and CS-60C) and pork detection wipe test kits for halal compliance. The products use a proprietary scraping-type mechanism with plastic microfiber tips that achieves approximately 10x higher microorganism collection rates than conventional wiping-type swabs. As of April 2025, the company has pivoted from Bio-Swab manufacturing to offering consulting services leveraging NTT Group company veteran expertise.

Product overview

Actis is a small Japanese technology company (established April 2016) offering specialized microbiological testing and sample collection products. The core product line consists of Bio-Swab CS-50 and CS-60C microorganism collection kits designed for scraping collection of biofilms in cleanrooms and food facilities, achieving approximately 10x higher collection rates than conventional products. The company also produced pork detection wipe kits (PBS-01, PFB-01) for Haral certification verification. Manufacturing of Bio-Swab products ended March 2025, with the company pivoting to consulting services. Additionally, Actis provides contract manufacturing services for dust samplers and duscas. Products are distributed through NTT-AT Creative Corporation, Bunseki Kobo, and Ermex.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bio-Swab CS-50 Microorganism collection kit designed for scraping collection of adhered biofilms. Features polypropylene material that does not break under 300g load, flat tip design with plastic microfibers for effective DNA and microorganism collection.
• Bio-Swab CS-60C Cleanroom-compatible microorganism collection kit washed in Class 100 environment with triple packaging. Suitable for biological cleanroom (BCR) environmental microorganism collection. Achieves approximately 10x higher collection rate compared to conventional products.
• Pork Detection Wipe Kit PBS-01 Inspection kit for detecting pork components on cooking equipment and utensils. Includes wipe stick, bottle, and judgment sheet. Detects pork-specific blood protein albumin at concentrations as low as 1 part per million. Halal certified for food companies seeking halal certification.
• Contract Manufacturing Services Contract work services developing dust samplers and duscas for NTT-AT Creative Corporation.
• Consulting Services Consulting services provided by NTT Group company veterans, including visible foreign matter countermeasures, programming, and other technical consulting.

Quantifiable outcome

• Collection rate approximately 10x higher than conventional products
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• NTT-AT Creative Corporation (NTT-ATクリエイティブ株式会社)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 April 2016Primary distribution partner for Actis products including Bio-Swab and dust samplers. Actis is located within NTT-AT Creative's building. Also collaborates on patent development and receives contract work from NTT-AT Creative.
• Analysis Workshop Co., Ltd. (分析工房株式会社)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistributor of Actis products including Bio-Swab CS-60C and pig detection kits. Provides cleanroom maintenance, trace impurity analysis, and dust reduction technology services.
• L'Mex Corporation (株式会社エルメックス)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistributor of Bio-Swab CS-50 and pig detection wipe test kit PBS-01. Exhibited products at Japan Food Microbiology Society conferences. Develops unique technologies for food sanitation inspection market.
• Tokushima University (徳島大学)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint patent development on scintillation light amplification container and radiation detection device. Rights ratio: Tokushima University : Actis : NTT-AT Creative = 5:3:2. Result of H27 Matching Planner Program.
• NPO Japan Asia Halal Association (NPO法人日本アジアハラール協会)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProvided halal certification for Actis pig detection kit in March 2017. Association representatives visited Actis premises in October 2016 to discuss halal inspection equipment development.
• MA FOODS Consulting (株式会社 MA FOODS Consulting)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistributor for pig detection products
• Tokushima Prefectural Industrial Technology Center (徳島県立工業技術センター)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerH29 fiscal year joint research partner for 'Biofilm Inspection Swab Development'. Research results completed April 2018 showing easy collection of adhered biofilm.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Copan Diagnostics: Copan Diagnostics is a leading global manufacturer of flocked swabs (FLOQSwabs) for clinical and microbiological sample collection. Directly comparable to Actis as both companies develop and sell proprietary swab formats designed to maximize specimen collection efficiency for downstream diagnostic and microbiological testing.
• Hardy Diagnostics: Hardy Diagnostics manufactures and distributes a wide range of microbiology products including specimen collection and transport swabs used in clinical and food safety laboratories. Comparable as a specialized microbiology products company with overlapping swab/sample collection product lines targeting similar end users.
• Puritan Medical Products: Puritan manufactures a broad range of single-use specimen collection swabs used in clinical diagnostics, forensic, environmental, and food safety testing. Comparable to Actis as a specialized swab producer serving overlapping customer segments including pharmaceutical QC and food safety laboratories.
• R-Biopharm AG: R-Biopharm develops and sells diagnostic test kits and instruments for food and feed safety analysis, including allergen and species identification tests. Comparable as a niche food safety testing company with product overlap in species detection (halal-related pork testing) and microbiological testing that parallels Actis's dual focus.

Regional players

• Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd. Eiken Chemical is a Japanese manufacturer of clinical diagnostics and microbiological testing products, including environmental monitoring devices. Comparable as a Japanese-headquartered peer operating in the same microbiology testing equipment space, serving overlapping domestic pharmaceutical and food safety customers.

Others

• Eurofins Scientific: Eurofins is a global testing services network operating microbiology and food safety laboratories. Comparable as a downstream consumer of swab-based sample collection in food and pharmaceutical testing services, providing indirect context for the addressable market Actis's products address.

Broad incumbents

• Becton Dickinson (BD): BD Diagnostic Systems is a major manufacturer of diagnostic specimen collection devices including the ESwab product line used for microbiology and virology sample transport. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering competing swab and specimen collection solutions across the same pharmaceutical, clinical, and food safety customer segments Actis targets.
• bioMérieux: bioMérieux is a global leader in industrial microbiology solutions including environmental monitoring for pharmaceutical and food production. Comparable as a broad incumbent offering integrated sampling-device-and-test workflows that compete with Actis's cleanroom microbial swab use case.
• 3M Food Safety: 3M Food Safety offers pathogen detection and hygiene monitoring products including environmental sampling swabs and ATP testing systems used in food processing facilities. Comparable as a broad incumbent serving the same food industry hygiene verification market that Actis's pork detection kit and Bio-Swab addressed.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Thermo Fisher provides a broad portfolio of microbiology, environmental monitoring, and food safety testing products including swab-based sampling devices. Comparable as a large incumbent offering environmental monitoring solutions to pharmaceutical and food manufacturers — the same customer base Actis's Bio-Swab served.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Actis