Airion
Airion is a Tokyo-based AI startup that builds manufacturing-specialized generative AI and Physical AI solutions — including proprietary ladder-program LLMs, robot control, and skills-transfer tools — for enterprise Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota, OMRON, and Mitsubishi Electric under custom multi-year contracts.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersTokyo, Japan
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Airion does
Airion株式会社 (Airion Inc.) is a Tokyo-based AI startup founded in April 2021 that develops Physical AI and generative AI solutions specialized for the Japanese manufacturing sector. The company builds a proprietary product suite anchored by Ladder-kun, an AI system that automates PLC ladder program generation using a custom ~30B-parameter LLM built on Qwen3 with CPT/SFT/RL training; complementary products include Ladder Kaidoku-kun for legacy program interpretation, Ladder Kenzu-kun for automated program review, and Gino Keisho-kun for voice-driven skills transfer from veteran workers. The technology stack also covers VLM/VLA robot control for humanoid robots, computer vision (including patented BLAS image recognition), and speech synthesis, positioning Airion at the intersection of generative AI, robotics, and factory automation.
The company serves enterprise manufacturing clients in Japan including Toyota Motor Corporation (voice synthesis AI for the Tommy-kun partner robot), TOKYO GAS, OMRON, Mitsubishi Electric, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, TOKAI RIKA, NTT Data, Ono Sokki, Nagano Automation, and Basis Inc. Airion operates a Tokyo headquarters in Bunkyo-ku and a regional office inside STATION Ai in Nagoya, targeting the Aichi manufacturing corridor. Revenue is generated through custom professional-services engagements — bespoke AI system development and AI implementation consulting — sold under multi-year contracts on a project basis with no publicly disclosed pricing. The company employs approximately 30 people, has taken no outside funding, and was selected for METI/NEDO's GENIAC Phase 3 national generative AI development program in 2025 as well as NVIDIA Inception and Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub programs.
Airion firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Airion
- Legal name
- Airion株式会社
- Website
- https://airion.co.jp
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Airion is a Tokyo-based AI startup that builds manufacturing-specialized generative AI and Physical AI solutions — including proprietary ladder-program LLMs, robot control, and skills-transfer tools — for enterprise Japanese manufacturers such as Toyota, OMRON, and Mitsubishi Electric under custom multi-year contracts.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Airion industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Industrial AI Software & Manufacturing Solutions
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI/ML Engineering & Model Development Services (BPAEAHAF)
Keywords
Where Airion is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Tokyo
- HQ country
- Japan
- HQ region
- Asia
Offices2 records
Markets served
Airion business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- AI System Development: Custom AI system development services for manufacturing clients. Projects include ladder program generation systems, vision inspection AI, voice synthesis AI, and other manufacturing-specific solutions. Revenue generated through project-based engagements with enterprise clients.
- AI Technology Consulting: Consulting services for AI implementation in manufacturing. Includes现场改革 and 経営改革 support for competitiveness improvement.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Enterprise custom AI development and consulting |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels10 records
Airion product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Airion develops and sells manufacturing-specialized AI solutions for Japanese enterprise clients, including Ladder-kun (an LLM-based PLC ladder program generator), Gino Keisho-kun (a voice-based skills transfer AI), VLM/VLA robot control systems, voice synthesis AI for partner robots, and computer vision systems for industrial verification. The company also provides custom generative AI development, Physical AI implementation, and AI technology consulting services tailored to manufacturing clients' specific needs.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ラダーくん (Ladder-kun): AI programmer that automates PLC ladder program creation from specifications and drawings using a Ladder-Specific LLM.
- 技能継承くん (Gino Keisho-kun)
Products and services
- Ladder-kun (ラダーくん) AI programmer that automates PLC ladder program creation from specifications and drawings using a manufacturing-specialized LLM. Compatible with any PLC vendor and customizable to company conventions. Used by manufacturing enterprises for PLC programming automation.
- Gino Keisho-kun (技能継承くん) AI solution that conducts voice conversations with veteran workers to extract tacit knowledge and structure it into cause-and-effect format for skills transfer. Younger employees can instantly reference techniques in chat format. Used by manufacturing enterprises facing workforce aging and skills loss.
- Generative AI Development
- Physical AI Development
- AI Technology Consulting
Quantifiable outcome
- Approximately 20% reduction in program creation time in field deployments
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Airion
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Airion technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability10 records
Feature8 records
Airion partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor, supporting and core.
- Weights & BiasesminorEvent sponsor for Industrial AI Night co-hosted with ONESTRUCTION. Provided venue setup and food for networking session. Introduced latest product updates including reinforcement learning white paper and agent feature 'Aria'.
- ABeam ConsultingsupportingCo-speakers at White Paper on Manufacturing Industries 2026 seminar. ABeam Consulting and Airion share practical insights on AI utilization in manufacturing alongside Skillnote.
- ONESTRUCTIONcoreJoint GENIAC participants developing domain-specific LLMs. Both selected for Cycle 3 of Japan's generative AI development support program. Jointly hosted 'Industrial AI Night' event for engineers. ONESTRUCTION develops LLMs for construction (BIM/IDS), Airion for manufacturing (ladder programs).
- PLCopen JapansupportingVendor member of the international standardization organization for industrial controllers. Supports development of IEC 61131-3 compliant engineering environments. Airion to incorporate program structuring expertise into Ladder-kun development.
- YATOMI EngineeringcoreJoint development and exhibition partnership for humanoid robot solutions and physical AI implementations. Co-exhibit at Manufacturing World Nagoya, Robot Technology Japan, and host joint Physical AI meetups. YATOMI Engineering provides robot systems integration expertise while Airion contributes AI control technology.
- Epson Direct CorporationcoreCo-creation partnership for shop floor deployment. Epson Direct's rugged edge device 'Endeavor JT51' combined with Airion's AI software (Gino Keisho-kun). Joint exhibition at EdgeTech+ 2025 and ongoing product co-development.
- Nagano Automation Co., Ltd.coreJoint verification of AI applications for ladder programming in production equipment. Nagano Automation provides production equipment manufacturing expertise and real-machine data for AI training. Project aims to automate PLC ladder program generation from drawing information.
- Basis Inc.coreJoint development of AI for automatic assessment of NCU installation quality on gas meters. Integration with Basis's cloud-based construction management system BLAS. AI verifies gas meter type, cable entry points, and wiring correctness from photo data.
- Toyota Motor Corporation (Future Creation Center)coreDevelopment of voice synthesis AI for partner robot 'Tommy-kun'. System recognizes speech, processes through NLP, and responds using announcer Yuta Tomikawa's voice. Robot scheduled for exhibition at Toyota Kaikan in Toyota City, Aichi.
- Monozukuri TarosupportingOpinion exchange with manufacturing-focused YouTuber (~300K subscribers). Discussion on PLM and AI in Japanese manufacturing. YouTube content collaboration for thought leadership in manufacturing DX.
- NVIDIA (Inception Program)supportingSelected member of NVIDIA Inception Program for AI startups. Provides access to NVIDIA technology, expertise, and partner network resources to accelerate AI development for manufacturing.
- Microsoft (Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub)supportingSelected member of Microsoft startup support program. Provides access to Azure cloud platform, OpenAI GPT-4 technology, and Microsoft's partner network for business expansion.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Airion competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Airion social profiles
Digital presenceAirion financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Airion leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Airion funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Airion 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 Airion
What does Airion do?
Airion develops and sells manufacturing-specialized AI solutions for Japanese enterprise clients, including Ladder-kun (an LLM-based PLC ladder program generator), Gino Keisho-kun (a voice-based skills transfer AI), VLM/VLA robot control systems, voice synthesis AI for partner robots, and computer vision systems for industrial verification. The company also provides custom generative AI development, Physical AI implementation, and AI technology consulting services tailored to manufacturing clients' specific needs.
Is Airion a public or private company?
Airion is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Airion founded?
Airion was founded in 2021.
Where is Airion based?
Airion is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, in the Asia region.
How does Airion make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. AI System Development is the primary driver. The others are AI Technology Consulting.
Does Airion have an API?
No public API is recorded for Airion.
What industry is Airion in?
Airion's product category is Industrial AI Software & Manufacturing Solutions. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAHAF, AI/ML Engineering & Model Development Services.