Recho

Recho, Inc. (株式会社 Recho) is a Tokyo-based company developing solutions built on generative AI and voice-AI technologies. Its main product, the Recho AI Voice Agent, is positioned as an industry-specialized, autonomous voice agent for what the company calls the "AI-native contact center": it is designed to interpret speech in real time, retain conversational context, apply the operational judgment and knowledge of a given business, and improve as it is used. The company markets three core attributes — a Japanese-language voice model, enterprise-grade security, and adaptability to varied workflows and back-end systems.

The underlying stack is developed in-house from the ground up and includes text-to-speech (TTS), automatic speech recognition (ASR) and dialogue control components. Press coverage of the company's Series A describes the architecture as purpose-built for generative AI rather than an extension of legacy IVR or chatbot systems, and states that its TTS and ASR have reached top-level results on global benchmarks, with particular strength in Japanese naturalness and recognition accuracy. The company launched its service in April 2024 and reports deployments with financial institutions, government agencies, global manufacturers and platform providers, targeting call-center operational efficiency and customer experience.

The company's stated philosophy is "Your 2nd Voice" — AI as a second voice that carries an organization's knowledge, experience and character, extending human capability rather than performing simple automation. The name is presented as combining "r-Echo" and "re-echo," with a logo whose curves evoke the near-equals sign (≒) and a "nearly human" state.

Founding story

Recho was founded in December 2021 by William Qiu (邱 実) and Jeff Bai (白 寧杰). Qiu, a graduate of Keio University's Faculty of Science and Technology, previously founded an education startup that he ran for six years before exiting, then worked as an enterprise systems implementation consultant at SAP Japan. Bai graduated from the University of Tokyo's Department of Information Science, where he researched recommendation systems and machine learning theory and deployment. Qiu serves as Representative Director, overseeing business development and corporate operations for the enterprise Voice Agent, while Bai serves as Director and leads development of voice-AI solutions for customers with strict security requirements.

Business model

Recho sells an enterprise voice-AI platform and AI voice agents to large organizations, deployed into existing contact center workflows and systems. It works with partners such as telecom and BPO operators to reach enterprise contact center demand.

Traction

Service launched in April 2024, with adoption reported among major financial institutions, government agencies, global manufacturers and platform providers. The team numbers around 80 people. Capital stands at JPY 670,000,000. Investors include SBI Investment, KDDI Open Innovation Fund V, Japan Post Capital, East Ventures, U-TOKYO ENTREPRENEUR SUPPORTER'S CLUB INCUBATION FUND, W inc. and management.

Latest developments

In 2026 Recho announced a collaboration with KDDI and Altius Link on AI contact center business (May), a strategic partnership with Q&A Co. for AI voice agents in the technical support domain (June), ISO 27017 cloud security certification and CCAJ membership (June), and registration as a domestic foundation-model developer for GENIAC-PRIZE 2026 (August).