H&T

What H&T does

H&T Inc. (株式会社H&T) is a privately held Japanese diversified services company founded on August 25, 2014, and headquartered in Osaka. The company began as a smartphone application and website development firm and subsequently expanded into real estate ownership, acquiring and managing multiple income-producing residential and commercial properties across Osaka, Tokyo, and Kobe (and reportedly Nagoya) in collaboration with the Shinja Group (信和グループ). It also operates an FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) waterproofing construction service for new buildings and renovations, executed through partner contractors.

In 2020, H&T launched its flagship digital product, Ciel, a self-developed online matchmaking community positioning itself as Japan's first one-stop platform covering romance, marriage, friendship, dining companions, and shared experiences. Ciel differentiates on three vectors: economic compatibility matching that factors in users' financial standing, a member mutual evaluation system that flags etiquette violators, and a strict low-price strategy offering free membership to women and males under 25, with below-market rates for males 25 and older. The company supplements these core lines with three additional businesses: corporate mineral water OEM (full-custom branded orders for promotional use), junior tennis development (in partnership with professional player Kosuke Shibano and the Ai Love All Tennis Academy), and startup advisory services covering formation, fundraising, marketing, IPO, M&A, and overseas expansion.

H&T operates a dual go-to-market: a self-serve product-led motion for Ciel accessed via cielmatch.com, and direct consultative sales for its enterprise and consumer services. The company has no disclosed external funding, no reported headcount, and a registered capital of 10 million JPY (~USD 65K), indicating a small-scale, founder-led operation.

Name

H&T

Legal name

株式会社H&T（H&T Inc.）

Website

https://human-tech.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Short description

H&T is a privately held Osaka-based Japanese company operating seven service lines, including a self-developed Ciel online matchmaking community, real estate ownership and management, web development, FRP waterproofing construction, startup advisory, OEM mineral water, and junior tennis development.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Osaka

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Ciel Membership Subscriptions: Monthly membership fees from Ciel matching service. Female members and males under 25 years old receive free membership; males 25 and older pay reduced fees compared to industry average.
2. Web Development Services:
3. Custom Mineral Water OEM: Custom-branded mineral water products ordered by corporate clients in full custom orders for promotional and event use.
4. FRP Waterproofing Services: FRP waterproofing construction services provided for new buildings and renovation projects through cooperating partner companies.
5. Startup Advisory Services: Advisory services for startup companies covering company formation, fundraising, marketing, IPO, M&A, and overseas expansion, with legal advice provided by lawyers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

H&T operates a diversified portfolio anchored by its self-developed online matchmaking community Ciel, which delivers a one-stop platform for romantic, marital, friendship, dining, and experiential connections. Beyond Ciel, the company owns and manages income-generating real estate across Osaka, Tokyo, and Kobe, produces websites from planning through branding, performs specialized FRP waterproofing construction for buildings, supplies OEM-branded mineral water to corporate clients, and provides legal-backed advisory services for startup founders covering formation through IPO and overseas expansion.

Product overview

H&T Inc. is a diversified services company offering seven distinct business lines: its flagship self-developed matching community Ciel; website production services; real estate ownership and management; FRP waterproofing construction; startup consulting; mineral water sales; and junior tennis development. The portfolio is centered on the Ciel matching platform as the primary digital product, supplemented by service businesses in real estate, construction, and sports.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ciel: Japan's first all-encompassing matchmaking community covering dating, marriage, friendships, dining, and experiences. A self-developed matching service focused on safety and affordable pricing.

Products and services

• Ciel online matchmaking community Self-developed online matching community service offering matchmaking for romantic relationships, marriage, friendships, dining companions, and experiences. Features a member mutual evaluation system for etiquette enforcement and economic compatibility matching, with freemium access for women and males under 25 and below-industry subscription pricing for males aged 25 and above.
• Real estate acquisition, sale, and utilization consulting Property consulting services covering acquisition, sale, and effective utilization of income-generating real estate, backed by H&T's owned portfolio of apartments, condominiums, and commercial buildings across Osaka, Tokyo, and Kobe, and delivered through cooperation with Shinja Group.
• Website production service One-stop website design and development from planning through branding, with careful client interviews and iterative exchange to deliver solutions aligned with each client's business objectives.
• Startup advisory service Advisory services for startup founders covering company formation, fundraising, corporate website and app development, marketing, business partnerships, HR management, IPO, M&A, and overseas expansion, with legal advice handled by lawyers.
• OEM-branded mineral water Custom-branded mineral water products offered to corporate clients via fully custom OEM orders, positioned as a clean, healthy-image promotional product suitable for promotional items and events.
• FRP waterproofing construction Specialized building waterproofing construction using FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) with glass fiber mat and polyester resin for new construction and renovation projects, delivered in collaboration with partner companies to extend building longevity.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ciel has been featured in multiple media outlets including Matching App Laboratory, Match AI, MatchUp, MatchAll, Matching Theory, Match Park, MUSUBI, and Mens Hacker.

Named customers2 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• 信和グループ (Shinja Group)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner
• Ai Love All Tennis AcademyminorGTM or Marketing Partner
• FRP Waterproofing Partner CompaniesminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Bumble: Global dating app with women-first matching model. Comparable to Ciel as a consumer matchmaking platform with distinctive positioning logic, and a reference point for how differentiated UX (here, mutual evaluation) competes in the dating-app category.
• Match Group (Match.com / Tinder): Global operator of leading dating platforms. While not a primary Japanese app, comparable to Ciel as a global incumbent in the consumer matchmaking category, providing scale benchmarks for subscription-based dating economics.
• eHarmony: Long-standing compatibility-driven matchmaking service. Comparable to Ciel in its emphasis on economic/compatibility-based matching as a differentiation lever against general-purpose dating apps.
• Mitsui Fudosan: Major Japanese real estate owner/developer with extensive residential and commercial portfolios in Tokyo and Osaka. Comparable to H&T's owned-portfolio real estate vertical, providing a benchmark for asset-base scale and rental-economics potential.
• Recruit Holdings: Japanese conglomerate operating HR, marketing, and matching businesses (including Zexy Enmusubi). Comparable to H&T's diversified multi-vertical model — Recruit demonstrates the upside of operating many adjacent services under one corporate umbrella.

Direct peers

• Omiai (Net Marketing Co.): Marriage-focused matchmaking app by Net Marketing. Closely comparable to Ciel's romance/marriage positioning and pricing architecture, competing head-to-head for the same marriage-intent Japanese consumer.
• Pairs (Pairs Inc.): Japan's largest dating/matchmaking app with tens of millions of registered users, operated by Pairs Inc. (Eureka subsidiary). Directly comparable to Ciel as a Japanese consumer matchmaking platform targeting the same romance and marriage-seeking segment.
• with (with Inc.): Personality- and interest-based Japanese matching app. Comparable to Ciel in target demographic and platform-based matchmaking model, with a similarly differentiated value proposition around compatibility signals.
• Zexy Enmusubi (Recruit Co.): Matchmaking service operated by Recruit, leveraging the long-established Zexy wedding brand. Highly comparable to Ciel as a marriage-oriented Japanese matching platform with strong brand-driven funnel.
• Tapple (Tapple Inc.): Japanese dating app focusing on '相遇' (encounter) use cases. Directly comparable to Ciel's matchmaking positioning and consumer demographic, and operates in the same domestic Japanese market with overlapping subscription model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 H&T