Emol
Tokyo, JP Β· 1 known investors
emol develops a mobile app that delivers self-help cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) through an AI character named "Roku," aimed at preventing and treating mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety. The company targets consumers seeking accessible mental healthcare and is working toward a therapeutic app for treating psychiatric conditions.
Also known as emol Co., Ltd. Β· emol inc. Β· emolζ ͺεΌδΌη€Ύ Β· γ¨γ’γ«
Founders & leadership
Investors Β· 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026emol inc. (emolζ ͺεΌδΌη€Ύ) is a Tokyo-based mental health technology company that operates a set of online mental care services spanning self-care, psychological counseling and medical consultation. Its consumer app lets users record emotions from nine emotion categories, chat with an AI character named Roku, track sleep, and review past records to observe their own patterns; the app also hosts "emol town," a shop of digital programs in which the AI guides users through video, audio and breathing-exercise content. The app's CBT programs are described as designed on a cognitive behavioral therapy basis with scientific evidence, and target working people, people with anxiety and people caught in negative thought patterns. The company also publishes disease-awareness apps: "Fuasiru" (γγ’γ·γ«) for obsessive-compulsive disorder and social anxiety disorder (2024), a version covering anxiety disorder (2024), and "Fuasiru-P" for panic disorder (2026).
Beyond the self-care app, emol runs "emol Counseling," an online video counseling service specialized in cognitive behavioral therapy, staffed by certified public psychologists and clinical psychologists with at least two years of CBT clinical experience, priced from about 4,000 yen per session and available 10:00β23:00, with a counselor-designation fee system introduced in December 2025 and supervision provided by academic CBT specialists (Waseda University professor Tomo Otsuki and Tohoku Gakuin University professor Yoshihiro Kanai). "emol Doctor," launched in April 2026, provides online psychosomatic-medicine and psychiatric consultations by physicians affiliated with partner medical institutions, including insurance-covered consultations, same-day and weekend/holiday appointments, and prescriptions. Conditions addressed include anxiety disorders, panic disorder, adjustment disorders, childhood neurodevelopmental disorders, autonomic dysregulation, depression, sleep-wake disorders, bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
emol also develops applications intended for the treatment of mental disorders, working with academic and industry partners: a CBT app for obsessive-compulsive disorder with Hyogo Medical University under an AMED-adopted project (clinical research from 2023, exploratory clinical trial started June 2025), an adult ADHD treatment app incorporating CBT validated in AMED research (performance evaluation from July 2025), and a joint research agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical (January 2025) on a diagnostic-support app in the psychiatric field.
Business model
emol sells mental health services directly to consumers through its app (including in-app purchases such as "emo coins" for character skins, a premium program released in May 2025, and the "emol PLUS" subscription plan offering unlimited access to CBT-based programs from December 2025) and paid online counseling sessions priced from roughly 4,000 yen. It also sells to organizations: "emol EAP" bundles the self-care app, unlimited covered online counseling by certified psychologists and insurance-covered online medical consultations for employees via a coupon-code distribution model, and the company has supplied apps to local governments, school boards and corporate partners, in some cases through distribution partners such as NEC Networks & System Integration.
Consumer purchases and subscriptions within the self-care app (premium program, emol PLUS, in-app items), per-session fees for online CBT counseling, corporate contracts for the emol EAP package, and public-sector and enterprise deployments; online medical consultations are delivered by partner medical institutions with insurance-covered patient co-payments, while emol provides booking support and systems.
Traction
The app launched in March 2018 (iOS) with an Android version in October 2021, and has added features including emotion graphs, sleep tracking, password lock, character skins, conversation-based problem organization and the emol town program shop. Public-sector and enterprise deployments include a maternity mental self-care program adopted in Hiratsuka City (2023), demonstration projects in Ichihara City and the Kanagawa ME-BYO Living Lab, selection for Kyoto City's KYOTO CITY OPEN LABO, teacher mental health support with the Kobe City Board of Education (2023), a school administration support service for elementary and junior high school students sold by NEC Networks & System Integration (2023), and demonstrations with NEC group companies and Mitsubishi Electric. The company was selected for METI healthcare service social implementation subsidies in FY2021 and FY2022, its CEO was named to Forbes JAPAN 100 in 2021, and it won the Kanto Regional Award of the 2024 Independents Club Awards in 2025.
Latest developments
In 2026 the company launched emol Doctor for online psychosomatic and psychiatric consultations (April) and released "Fuasiru-P," a free panic disorder awareness app (May), while exhibiting and co-hosting an evening seminar on digital content in panic disorder treatment at the 18th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Anxiety and Related Disorders. Recent regulated-product work includes an exploratory clinical trial of a CBT support app for obsessive-compulsive disorder (June 2025), performance evaluation of an adult ADHD treatment app (July 2025), and a joint research agreement with Otsuka Pharmaceutical on a psychiatric diagnostic-support app (January 2025). The company raised 315 million yen via a third-party allotment announced in January 2025.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
emol positions itself in Japan's digital mental health / mental health tech sector, spanning consumer self-care apps, online counseling and, through partner clinics, online psychiatric care, while pursuing regulated therapeutic apps (DTx). It has taken an organizing role in the sector, launching the Mental Health Tech Study Group in 2023, publishing domestic mental health tech chaos maps from 2021 onward, and participating in the Japan Digital Mental Health Alliance founded in 2025.
The company combines an AI-driven consumer self-care app with human CBT counseling and physician-delivered online psychiatric care in a single pathway, and grounds its programs in academic collaborations (University of Tokyo, Waseda University, Hyogo Medical University) and AMED-funded research, alongside patented AI technology for life logging and mental-state scoring.
Technology
The core product combines emotion logging with an AI conversational character (Roku) that records life logs automatically from conversation content and user behavior and performs mental-state scoring and advice. The company applied for a patent on "emol AI" in March 2019 and obtained a patent (JP 7011840) on an information processing device and program in January 2022. Its CBT and ACT-based programs are developed with academic partners, including a "CBT program for working people" co-developed with the University of Tokyo's Department of Digital Mental Health from an iCBT program shown in a randomized controlled trial to improve depressive symptoms among workers.
Go-to-market
Direct app distribution on iOS and Android alongside a web presence, supported by a mental health content column site, LINE and web booking for counseling, and a free 30-minute consultation and document-request funnel for corporate EAP sales. The company builds visibility through academic channels β exhibiting and running joint seminars at Japanese psychiatric, anxiety-disorder and cognitive behavioral therapy conferences β and through media coverage, government programs, industry chaos maps and public-private demonstration projects.
Individual consumers seeking self-directed mental care or professional support for depressed mood, insomnia, concentration problems, anxiety and panic, caregiving and workplace stress; employers seeking employee mental health support, particularly during the prevention/early stage and while employees are on leave; and public-sector customers such as municipalities and school boards, plus medical institutions to which the company distributes patient leaflets.
Geography
Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan (previously Kyoto and Osaka), with services delivered online across Japan; online medical consultations are available to patients located within Japan. The COO has pitched internationally at Japan Berlin Impact Night in Berlin (2022).
History
emol released its first app in March 2018 and has iterated steadily, adding skins and messaging stickers (2018β2019), emotion graphs and sleep records (2019), in-app currency and AI conversation features (2020), the emol town digital program shop (December 2020), and an Android release (October 2021). A corporate mental health tool, "emol work," was discontinued in September 2021. The company began research collaborations with Hyogo Medical University on an OCD treatment app (2022) and with the University of Tokyo's Department of Digital Mental Health on iCBT dissemination (2023). Headquarters moved from Kyoto (Shimogyo-ku) to Osaka (Kita-ku) in July 2023 and to Toshima-ku, Tokyo in May 2024. Service expansion followed with the emol Counseling beta in January 2025 and full launch in April 2025, a University of Tokyo co-developed CBT program for workers in May 2025, the emol PLUS subscription in December 2025, and emol Doctor online psychiatric care in April 2026.
Risks & controversies
The company states that its counseling service uses CBT methods delivered by psychologists and is not the provision of medical care, that its app does not substitute for physician diagnosis or treatment, and that medical consultations are performed by physicians of partner medical institutions who determine insurance applicability and whether prescriptions or medical certificates are appropriate. Its therapeutic apps for OCD and adult ADHD remain in clinical trial and performance-evaluation stages, and the company has noted regulatory and reimbursement strategy challenges in developing software as a medical device.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 37
launches, deals, and filingsCollaboration to implement the department's internet cognitive behavioral therapy program in the emol app and evaluate effects on depressive symptoms and stress in the workplace.
Major app update adding "emol town," a shop of digital programs in which AI character Roku guides users through movies, audio and breathing exercises.
"Preparing for the unexpected" campaign offering limited-edition Roku skins.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Emolemol.jp Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Emol do?
- Japanese mental health company offering an AI self-care app, CBT-based programs, online counseling and online psychiatric care.
- Who are Emol's investors?
- Emol's investors include Globis Capital Partners.
- Where is Emol headquartered?
- Emol is headquartered in Tokyo, JP.