Coconala buys AI consultancy Acrosstudio to enter corporate AI market
What's the deal? Japan's Coconala (TSE Growth: 4176) has acquired AI consultancy AcrosstudioDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and made it a subsidiary, the company announced in October 2026. The deal, whose value was not disclosed, pushes Coconala into corporate AI consulting, AI development, and AI business process outsourcing (BPO).
What does Acrosstudio do? Founded in 2021, the Tokyo firm describes itself as an "AI implementation consulting firm," pairing consultants and engineers in one team to design, build, and embed AI systems inside client operations. Its 63 staff — more than 70% of them consultants and AI engineers — serve clients including trading houses, property groups, and beverage makers.
Why now? Generative AI use among digitalising Japanese firms has reached 86.4%, per the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. But only 9% say the results far exceeded expectations, against 38% in the US, according to PwC JapanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? Coconala introduced a company structure on September 1, 2026, including a new "AI Company" that Acrosstudio will anchor. The plan: combine Acrosstudio's build-and-deploy capability with Coconala's base of more than 620,000 corporate clients and over 1.4 million registered skill providers, then expand into AI BPO.
Acrosstudio reported revenue of US$8.69M for the year ended June 2026, roughly seven times its 2024 figure, an average annual growth rate of 164%. Its leadership includes alumni of KPMG ConsultingDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a former listed-company global CTO, and an Apple voice-assistant language engineer.
What changes? Acrosstudio will keep operating under founder Kazuya Hochi and its current management, with Coconala supplying corporate client referrals and talent to support growth. Coconala began registering AI engineers and AI consultants in July 2026, but lacked an in-house team to carry projects from concept to deployment.
"We aim to generate many AI Native Companies in Japan," Hochi said, adding that Acrosstudio's build-out capability would combine with Coconala's corporate and talent base.
The signal: Coconala is betting that a skills marketplace plus a hands-on implementation arm can close Japan's wide AI-adoption gap. "Coconala will be a company that grows the more AI spreads," chief executive officer Ayumi Suzuki said, framing the acquisition as a way to chase demand AI creates rather than lose it.
Read more: prtimes.jp
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
