LY Corporation, the Tokyo company that runs the messaging app LINE and Yahoo Japan, said on January 30, 2026, that it had agreed with the management shareholders of Toreta to buy the startup's issued shares. Toreta, based in Shibuya, Tokyo, sells reservation and customer management software to restaurants.
LY did not disclose the price or how many shares it would buy. It said it aimed to make Toreta a subsidiary after the required procedures. The M&A news site MAonline later reported that LY completed the purchase of a majority of Toreta's shares on February 25, 2026.
LY plans to connect Toreta's main product, the Toreta reservation book, to LINE Official Account, the business accounts that shops and restaurants use to reach customers on LINE, so that diners can book tables inside the app.
What Toreta built
Toreta launched its reservation management app for Japanese restaurants in December 2013, The Bridge reported. Within about six months more than 1,000 restaurants were using it, each paying a monthly fee of ¥9,000 (about $90 at the time), according to The Bridge.
The company later added customer management and data tools to help restaurants run their floors more efficiently and keep guests coming back. LY said Toreta's system has been installed at more than 19,000 restaurants across Japan in total, and credited its design, which draws on hands-on experience of running restaurants, for its popularity across many types and sizes of venue.
Hitoshi Nakamura was Toreta's chief executive when it raised its first outside money in 2014, The Bridge reported, with Kengo Yoshida, a former GMO Pepabo executive, joining as chief operating officer. LY's announcement did not name the sellers beyond describing them as Toreta's management shareholders.
Why LY is buying
LINE has about 100 million users in Japan, according to LY. The company said that software sold through LINE Official Account is one of its priorities from fiscal 2026, with a focus on face-to-face businesses that already use those accounts heavily, such as restaurants and hair and beauty salons.
For restaurants, LY plans to release mobile ordering and point-of-sale software, and for salons a booking system, plus customer management tools for all industries. All are designed to work with LINE Official Account. LY said it would make Toreta's reservation book one of the core parts of the restaurant package, alongside its own ordering, repeat-visit and CRM features.
LY argued that restaurants face staff shortages, have been slow to digitise and depend on repeat customers. It has also set up a subsidiary, LY Business Partners, to sell these products to restaurants and salons and help them use them.
For diners, LY said the goal is that a restaurant visit, from booking and ordering to follow-up messages after the meal, can be handled entirely within LINE. For restaurants, it said linking customer contact through LINE with booking, ordering and customer data would let them modernise without heavy setup or running costs.
The founders and the funding
Toreta raised ¥200 million (about $2 million) from the Silicon Valley investment firm WiL in June 2014, The Bridge reported. A $2.6 million Series B in February 2016 included Salesforce Ventures, Itochu, Dentsu Digital and iSG, bringing its total to $8.2 million, according to Global Venturing, citing PitchBook.
In October 2016 it raised $12 million in a round led by Eight Roads Ventures Japan, the Japanese investment arm of Fidelity, with NTT Docomo Ventures, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Femto Growth Capital, World Innovation Lab and iSG Investment Works taking part.
In December 2018 the mobile operator NTT Docomo invested ¥3 billion (about $27.2 million) in new shares and bought additional shares from existing investors, taking a 39.7% stake, Global Venturing reported. At the time Toreta planned to add payments and to promote Docomo's mobile payment and rewards services. The 2026 announcement did not say what happened to Docomo's holding.
