Nocall

nocall株式会社 (Nocall Inc.) develops and operates nocall.ai, a telephone automation service that uses generative AI to hold spoken conversations in Japanese. The system chains three components — speech-to-text recognition of the caller's speech, an LLM that interprets context and generates responses according to a configured prompt and goal, and text-to-speech synthesis — with a proprietary engine intended to speed the hand-off between the steps. The company contrasts the product with traditional IVR: instead of fixed button-driven branches, responses are generated freely from context, multiple items can be gathered in one conversation, and changes are made by editing prompts rather than redesigning call flows.

The product is focused primarily on outbound calling (架電), although the company states it also supports inbound answering, in which the AI takes calls, gathers the caller's purpose, and transfers to a staff member. Documented use cases include recruiting agencies (application confirmation, interview scheduling, re-engaging past applicants), collections and payment reminders, inside sales and cold calling (immediate follow-up after a document request, post-exhibition follow-up, dormant customer reactivation), and automotive service businesses (vehicle inspection reminders, appointment confirmations). Features include API/webhook integration with CRMs so calls can be triggered from the CRM and results returned automatically, Google and Outlook calendar integration via tool calling so the AI can check availability, propose times during a call and write confirmed appointments back, call recording playback and transcription, customer-editable prompts, and automated AI analysis and summarization of call outcomes. Batch calling is supported from 1 to 5,000 records, and the company states calls can be launched one second after a lead is captured.

The company frames its mission around Japan's projected labor shortage — citing 11 million missing workers by 2040 — with a stated goal of raising national productivity by 20% (2 billion hours saved), starting with full automation of corporate telephone work.

Founding story

Founder and CEO Shogo Hayashi (林正悟), from Fukuyama, Hiroshima, moved to the United States for university and studied education and developmental psychology at The College of Wooster. He subsequently worked on establishing Jinseki International School, Japan's first boarding international school for elementary students accredited as an ichijoko, and was involved in setting up seven international schools in total. He founded the company on 2020-12-25 as Passionate Genius Inc., raised funding in 2023 and refocused on generative AI products.

Business model

B2B SaaS sold to companies that run outbound calling operations, with an entry plan priced as an initial fee plus a monthly subscription plus usage-based charges, and an enterprise plan that additionally addresses security requirements. The company has also signaled a PaaS direction: an API product (nocall.API) that lets third parties embed AI calling into their own systems, plus distribution through sales partners.

Initial fee plus monthly subscription plus usage-based (per-call) charges; the company has stated that usage-based pricing was chosen because outbound calling volume correlates directly with customer revenue. An enterprise tier adds security-requirement coverage.

Traction

Publicly cited customer outcomes include MOTA Inc. (appointment reminders for vehicle appraisals, same-day cancellation rate of 5.7%), CrowdWorks Inc. (new-registrant follow-up and dormant-registrant outreach, about 3 person-months of time saved monthly), and Raccoon Financial (collections calls, a 3–4x increase in payment-promise acquisition). One vehicle inspection customer had previously spent about 101 hours a month on reminder calls, requiring an average of 3.5 attempts to reach a customer. The company reported about 10 members and average onboarding of roughly one month.

Latest developments

Announced financing from Coreline Ventures in December 2025, to be used for engineer hiring and AI-driven development of nocall.ai; a sales partner agreement with Enmish Inc. in June 2026; and the opening of waiting-list registration on 2026-07-07 for a closed beta of nocall.API, which lets customers embed AI calling.