What REAL WORLD does

REAL WORLD is a Japan-based, publicly listed company (TYO:3691) headquartered in Tokyo with a workforce of 11-50 employees. Per its firmographic profile, it provides crowd-sourced services and solutions, though the input data contains limited detail on its operational scope, vertical focus, or pricing model (pricing information is not publicly disclosed, and no revenue figures are available).

The company's core technology is identified as "Physical AI robotics," and it was featured as a Microsoft case study at the Microsoft AI Tour Seoul event in March 2026, showcasing a partnership around physical AI robotics solutions intended for industrial process redesign. The partnership positions REAL WORLD within Microsoft's "frontier transformation" framework for South Korean companies using AI to redesign processes rather than lift productivity in isolation. However, the input does not disclose proprietary models, patents, training data, or technical architecture for the robotics offering, and the company profile coexists with conflicting signals (some sources frame the firm as a crowd-sourced services provider; another references a 2022 rebranding to "デジタルプラス" / Digital Plus). This data conflict limits confident claims about the current product focus.

REAL WORLD's business model mechanics — pricing, revenue mix, and customer segmentation — are largely undisclosed. Past strategic activity includes a 2007 funding round with GMO VenturePartners and the July 2017 acquisition of NORTHERN LIGHTS. Leadership is led by Kikuchi Masaaki as President & CEO, with Akira Ishizuka (formerly CFO/Director) and Daisuke Nakamura (Director) on the team. No customer logos, segment mix, or go-to-motion details are available, making a detailed business-model characterization impractical from the supplied data.

Name

REAL WORLD

Legal name

デジタルプラス

Website

https://realworld.co.jp

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

REAL WORLD is a Japan-based, publicly listed company (TYO:3691) with 11-50 employees, described as providing crowd-sourced services and identified as pursuing physical AI robotics partnerships (notably with Microsoft, showcased at AI Tour Seoul in March 2026).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

AI Integration Services

NAICS

Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Robot Software, Autonomy Stacks & Simulation (ROS, digital twins) (HDAAAIAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industrial & Warehouse Robotics (HDAAAIAA), End-to-End Enterprise AI Platforms (MLOps & Model Lifecycle Management) (HDAEANAA)

Keywords

• Crowdsourced services
• Physical ai robotics
• Ai integration solutions
• Digital transformation services
• Enterprise ai consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Core offering

REAL WORLD provides crowd-sourced services and solutions to enterprise clients. The company specializes in Physical AI robotics integration for industrial applications, demonstrated through a strategic partnership with Microsoft and featured as a case study at Microsoft's AI Tour Seoul event for redesigning business processes with AI beyond simple productivity gains.

Product overview

REAL WORLD appears to be an international technology company. According to Korean news coverage of Microsoft AI Tour Seoul, the company is involved in a physical AI robotics partnership. A separate Japanese entity operating under the name "リアルワールド" (Real World) underwent a corporate rebranding to "デジタルプラス" (Digital Plus) in April 2022, though no specific product or service details are available from the source material.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Physical AI Robotics Solutions Physical AI robotics solutions for industrial process redesign with AI, leveraging Microsoft partnership.
• Crowd-sourced Services and Solutions Crowd-sourced services and solutions for enterprise customers, leveraging collective input and resources.

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• MicrosoftcoreTechnology or Integration · 26 March 2026RealWorld was featured as a case study at Microsoft's AI Tour Seoul event showcasing its physical AI robotics partnership as part of Microsoft's frontier transformation strategy for South Korean companies. RealWorld was highlighted among Korean companies implementing Microsoft's AI solutions for redesigning processes with AI beyond simple productivity gains.

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Cognex Corporation: Specialist in machine vision and industrial AI used to enable robotics and automation in factories. Comparable as an industrial-AI technology vendor whose capabilities feed into many of the same Physical AI and robotic-vision use cases RealWorld addresses.

Broad incumbents

• FANUC Corporation: One of the world's largest industrial robotics and CNC manufacturers, headquartered in Japan. Overlaps broadly with RealWorld's industrial robotics focus but operates at much larger scale as an incumbent hardware/platform vendor.
• ABB Robotics: Global industrial robotics and automation business with a strong AI-enabled robotics portfolio. Comparable as a broad incumbent in AI-driven industrial robotics competing for the same enterprise customers RealWorld targets.
• Yaskawa Electric: Japanese industrial robotics and motion control leader with growing AI/automation capabilities. Relevant as a Japan-based broad incumbent serving overlapping industrial automation customers as RealWorld targets.
• Omron Corporation: Japanese industrial automation and control company with growing robotics and AI offerings. Comparable as a Japan-headquartered broad incumbent in factory automation that competes for similar industrial AI/robotics integration budgets.
• NVIDIA: Provider of GPU platforms, Isaac robotics SDK, and Omniverse digital twins underpinning much of the modern Physical AI stack. Comparable as the broad incumbent whose tooling RealWorld's Microsoft-Powered Physical AI solutions are likely built on.
• Universal Robots: Leading manufacturer of collaborative robot arms widely integrated into industrial AI applications. Comparable as an industrial robotics platform whose hardware and software ecosystem RealWorld's integration services could plug into.

Direct peers

• Mujin: Japan-headquartered industrial robotics and warehouse automation company focused on intelligent robotics integration. Directly comparable as a Japanese industrial-robotics AI/intelligence provider targeting similar factory and logistics use cases.
• SoftBank Robotics: Robotics arm of SoftBank Group developing humanoid and service robots with strong AI autonomy. Comparable as a Japan-rooted robotics company applying AI to physical robots, though focused more on humanoid/service robots than industrial integration.
• Preferred Networks: Japanese AI and deep learning company with strong robotics and industrial AI focus. Closely comparable to RealWorld as a Japan-based Physical AI/robotics player pursuing industrial customers, though at significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/realworld

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments3 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about REAL WORLD