Eliminating the "Overseas Expansion Gap" for Small and Medium-sized Manufacturers: "Trst" Overseas Expansion Agency Service Launches Today

Our company supports April Dream, a project that aims to make April 1st a day to broadcast dreams. This press release is the dream of "KiAI". KiAI Inc. (Headquarters: Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture; Representative Director and CEO: Kazumasa Oba) officially launched the "Trst" overseas expansion agency service for small and medium-sized manufacturing companies today, April 1, 2026. Trst is Japan's first "AI x Local Network" type overseas sales agency service that combines high-speed AI corporate research and multilingual sales approaches with the local land operator network of IACE Travel, a travel agency listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

■ The Dream of KiAI Inc.

Our dream is to end the society where "whether to expand overseas" is determined by company size.

Large corporations have dedicated overseas sales departments, can mobilize trading companies, and establish local bases. However, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for 99% of Japan's manufacturing industry, face a shrinking domestic market without taking the first step because they lack the means to find reliable overseas partners, despite having technical capabilities.

Trst bridges this gap. The person in charge utilizes AI and local networks to consistently execute market research, by-name approaches, and negative checks on your behalf. By simply answering a hearing, overseas expansion starts moving from the day after the contract. This is the first step toward the world we want to realize.

What KiAI aims for is to deliver the world-class technology possessed by Japan's small and medium-sized manufacturers to the right partners. In 10 years, to reduce the number of executives saying "We couldn't go overseas because we are a SME" to zero. That is our dream.

■ Trst Service Overview

Trst is an "overseas sales agency" service. The executives and persons in charge at small and medium-sized manufacturers simply answer a hearing, and the person in charge (overseas expansion specialist) will consistently execute the following:

• Market research and strategy formulation for target countries and industries

• By-name sales emails and SNS transmissions in local languages (English, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc.)

• On-site field investigations against suspicious companies (negative checks)

• Bi-weekly meetings for strategy updates and continuous support until business negotiations are finalized

While traditional overseas consulting ends at the "strategy formulation" stage, Trst has already approached over 50 companies by the first week of the contract.

◆ Two Points of Differentiation

[1] Ultra-High-Speed Approach by AI

The AI utilized by Trst is developed by KiAI, a university-launched startup where a national university professor with 30 years of AI research experience serves as the Chief AI Officer (CAIO), and it is an AI specialized in overseas sales currently undergoing research and development as a project adopted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. It automates company selection, local language email drafting/sending, and response analysis, enabling a single person in charge to approach dozens of individual companies from the first week.

[2] Negative Checks through a Travel Agency Network

Through IACE Travel, local land operators actually visit company locations to verify nameplates and actual business operations. It eliminates fraud risks invisible online at less than 1/10 the cost of research firms and in as little as 1 day.

■ Pricing Plans

No success fees (fixed monthly fee) *Because of the fixed monthly fee system, the budget is clear even during the period until results are achieved.

■ Partner Comment (IACE Travel Inc.)

■ Voice of a Supported Company (Soma Industry Co., Ltd.)

Replies from US Company Presidents via Email Approaches

"Although I received an order to daringly challenge the US market strategy exactly because it's now for our company, there is a limit with just myself. Having a place that discovers companies for us was the first stepping stone. Being able to go directly find them from live information with AI is fundamentally different. I saw hope."

• They discovered and extracted 160 US companies for us using AI in 8 actual working days. Normally, a one-week business trip to America (5 actual working days) maxes out at visiting 7 or 8 companies, but having them pioneer 20 to 30 times as many US companies gave me the real feeling that we can have great expectations for its ultra-high efficiency and potential.

• The AI analyzes the target company's website and automatically outputs the matching score, fit points, and gaps with our products. I felt it was "surprisingly amazing."

• With the lists we previously relied on, there was a limit to the freshness and accuracy of the information. Being able to go directly find them from live information with AI is fundamentally different.

• When unfamiliar companies came up, knowing that IACE Travel's local operators could move to verify their reliability gave me a sense of security.

• If we can build relationships with 3 to 5 companies in parallel, we can shorten the waiting time until receiving an order. A feeling that "hope was seen" was born.

■ Company Profile

[Inquiries regarding this matter]

Public Relations, KiAI Inc.

E-mail: info@kiai.bz

URL: https://trst.bz