KEY POINTSDaikin invests in Okinawa-based LiLz through a third-party allotment to strengthen factory and plant solutionsLiLz brings wireless IoT cameras and AI cloud tools for remote inspections, analog meter reading and anomaly detectionPartnership targets integrated offerings spanning equipment inspection, HVAC and heat-source optimization, and energy-saving proposals
Daikin will work with LiLz to link remote equipment inspection with HVAC and heat-source optimization as factories address aging assets and labor shortages. Photo by Shoeib Abolhassani on Unsplash
Shoeib Abolhassani
Daikin Industries has invested in LiLz, an Okinawa-based startup that provides IoT- and AI-based equipment inspection solutions for factories and plants, by subscribing to a third-party allotment of shares, the company said on August 26.
LiLz, based in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, is led by President and Representative Director Keigo Onishi. The company offers solutions that combine fully wireless IoT cameras with AI cloud services to enable remote equipment inspections, automatic reading of analog meters and detection of equipment abnormalities. Daikin said LiLz has expanded adoption across a range of industries through service development closely tied to customer sites, while building field knowledge in equipment management and enlarging its customer base.
Through the investment, the two companies plan to develop factory solutions linking equipment inspection with operational improvements for air-conditioning and heat-source equipment, as well as energy-saving proposals for factory and plant customers. The collaboration is intended to combine the two companies’ technologies and on-site expertise and reflect customer-site issues in product and service development.
The announcement comes as factories and plants face aging equipment and labor shortages, while also requiring continuous monitoring of equipment conditions to support stable operations and more efficient asset use. Remote inspection and automated monitoring have become a focus area in industrial facilities as companies seek to reduce manual workloads and improve maintenance efficiency.
Daikin has positioned transformation into a solutions provider as a key theme in its FUSION30 strategic management plan, moving beyond equipment sales to provide value across the lifecycle of customer equipment and buildings. The company also identifies the factory market as one of its priority application segments and has been strengthening solutions aimed at stable equipment operation, energy savings and decarbonization support.
LiLz’s business centers on industrial inspection applications using wireless cameras and AI cloud software. In Japan, third-party allotments are a common financing method in which a company issues new shares directly to selected investors rather than through a public offering.
AloJapan.com