newmo

Rather than wait for robotaxis to arrive from abroad, newmo has bought its way into Japan's taxi industry and is using the fleet to train its own driving AI. Founded on 4 January 2024 and based in Toranomon, Tokyo, the company says its group of nine taxi companies runs about 1,900 vehicles with more than 2,800 staff, in Osaka, Kanagawa, Tokyo, Okinawa, Hokkaido and Aichi, and it announced a move into Fukuoka in October 2026.

Five businesses around one fleet

newmo's site lists five lines of business: licensed taxi and hire-car operation; the newmo taxi dispatch app; Japan's version of ride-sharing, known as NRS; autonomous taxi development and operation; and a recruitment service for essential workers. It keeps adding operators, taking over Adachi Taxi in Tokyo's Adachi ward in October 2026 and signing an agreement that month to buy Ebetsu Hire in Hokkaido, and it states a long-term goal of 10,000 staffed taxis.

Autonomous taxis in Sakai from 2028

The company develops its own autonomous driving model and was selected for GENIAC, the generative AI programme of METI and NEDO. It has collected data and run road trials in Sakai and Osaka during 2026 and leads the Sakai City Autonomous Taxi Implementation Consortium. Under a capital and business alliance announced with KDDI in November 2026, KDDI supplies networks, AI computing, remote monitoring and positioning, and the partners aim to start a commercial service in a limited area of Sakai in 2028, at first with a safety driver. They also plan to offer the dispatch, operation management and remote monitoring systems built there to other regional operators.

Key facts

Founded: 4 January 2024 Headquarters: Toranomon, Tokyo, Japan Chief executive: Naoki Aoyagi Fleet: about 1,900 vehicles in nine taxi companies across six regions (company figures, November 2026) Funding: ¥20.8 billion Series B led by KDDI, announced 9 November 2026; ¥40.7 billion raised in total