Aging demographicslack of work, adoption of Genai and 2023 Application of electronic protection They lead companies to automate funding, taxes, supplies and HR in Japan. Yet Only 16% of digital transformations achieve, And this is only 4-11% in traditional industries. The main obstacles? The weak commitment of leadership, the rigid culture and the lack of digital talent. Layer It offers an AI Saas platform to help Back-Office automation businesses.
LayerA Japanese start of AI Saas that allows businesses to reduce the workload has raised $ 100 million in a round of the B series, led by Technology Cross Ventures (TCV), noting the US Fund’s first investment in Japanese startup.
The company refused to reveal its valuation, but said that both the evaluation and the size of the round are among the largest ever raised from a seven -year Japanese start to B. Stadium other investors, such as MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Innovation Partners, Jafco Group Jafco Venture and JP Investment also joined the B series, bringing the total to $ 192.2 million.
Basic bids include Bakuraku, a platform that automates corporate spending flows, cost management, invoice processing and corporate card processing – for more than 15,000 companies. Alterna, an investment platform for digital mobile values developed in collaboration with Mitsui & Co. and AI workforce, a genetic solution AI aimed at rationalizing work flows and business data.
Founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Yoshinori Fukushima, who studied mechanical learning at the University of Tokyo and started the News App Gunosy, which was later registered on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Layerx evolved from one of his digital transformations (DX).
The founder started Layerx after recognizing significant congestion in Japan’s work flows: paper -based invoice processing. This insight prompted the team to rotate at SAAS with AI platform, Bakuraku, Fukushima in TechCrunch, adding that the experience of the platform’s AI-Native User has quickly attracted, helping Layerx to ensure important strategic partnerships, including MUFG or Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and driving for the last round of funding.
Despite the wave of digitization, many Japanese companies are still based on paper and excel for returns and invoice processing, the CEO continued. In a domestic market, the start competes with Money Forward Cloud Keihi, Freee and Rakuraku Seisan. Globally, its opponents include Sap Concur, Rippling, Brex, Ramp, Spendesk and Airbase. In the field of AI’s workforce, he faces the competition from Harvey, Fukushima noted.
TechCrunch event
Francisco
|
27-29 October 2025
Bakuraku differs with a user experience driven by AI. The company is constantly upgrading automation features such as “Division of Automatic Entry and Documents”, while investing in AI agents and business processing business processing (BPO). His team includes “more than 12 former CTOS and a Grandmaster Kaggle”. Bakuraku offers a comprehensive, integrated platform that covers “expenditure management, invoice processing, corporate cards, work flows, electronic Ledger compliance, participation and requirements-all in a solution,” Fukushima added.
The start closed the funding of Series B less than two years after securing November 20, 2023.
“We spent 10,000 customers in February 2024 and reached 15,000 until April 2025, with more business customers coming on the boat,” the CEO said. “The staff has also increased by about 220 employees in October 2023 to about 430 by the end of July 2025.”
Layerx is on the right track to reach $ 68 million, equivalent to $ 10 billion, faster than any SAAS company in Japan history, according to the company. ‘The growth reference index is known as T2d3 It was reached in front of the timetable and we expect to surpass the previous domestic record, which took eight years since the start of products, in less than five years, “Fukushima said.
The AI workforce counts Mitsui & Co. and MUFG Bank among its customers, while Bakuraku serves customers such as Ippudo, Iris Ohyama, Imperial Hotel and Sekisui Chemical.
Looking forward, the company is targeting about $ 680 million (¥ ¥ 100 billion) in annual repetitive revenue by the financial year 2030, and about half is expected to come from AI Agent. It also plans to increase its workforce to about 1,000 employees by 2028.
