Aging demographics, labor shortages, genai adoption and e-debt implementation in 2023 has encouraged financial, tax, procurement and HR automation companies in Japan. However, only 16% of digital conversions have been successful, only 4-11% in traditional industries. Main barrier? Weak leadership commitment, strict culture, lack of digital talent. Layerx offers an AI SAAS platform to help businesses expand back-office automation.
Layerx is a Japanese AI SaaS startup that enables businesses to reduce back-office workloads, raising $100 million in the Series B round led by TCV, marking the first US fund investment in Japanese startups.
The company refused to disclose the rating, but said both the round’s rating and size were one of the biggest ever raised by the 7-year-old Japanese startup in the Series B stage. Other investors such as MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Innovation Partners, JAFCO Group, Keylock Capital, Coreline Ventures and JP Investment also joined the Series B round, increasing the total to $122.2 million.
The key startup products include Bakuraku, a platform that automates corporate spending workflows for over 15,000 companies and covers cost management, invoice processing and corporate card operations. Mitsui & Co. Alterna is a retail digital securities investment platform developed in collaboration with. AI Workforce is a generic AI solution designed to streamline workflows and harness enterprise data.
It was founded in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Yoshinori Fukushima, who studied machine learning at the University of Tokyo and started Gunosy, a news app previously listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
The founders identified important bottlenecks in Japan’s enterprise workflows, then identified paper-based invoice processing before launching Layerx. This insight will encourage teams to pivot into SaaS on an AI-driven platform, Bakuraku told TechCrunch that the platform’s AI native user experience will quickly gain traction, secure key strategic partnerships, including MUFG or MITSUBISHI UFJ Financial Group, and step-by-step methods for the latest member rounds.
Despite the wave of digitalization, many Japanese companies still rely on paper, and are excellent at reimbursing costs and handling bills, the CEO continued. Domestic, startups compete with Money Forward Cloud Keihi, Freee and Rakuraku Seisan. Globally, their rivals include SAP Concur, Rippling, Brex, Ramp, Spendesk, and Airbase. In the AI workforce field, Fukushima said it faces competition from Harvey.
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Bakuraku is differentiated from an AI-driven user experience. The company is also investing in AI agents and AI-enabled business processing outsourcing (BPO), while continuing to upgrade automation features such as “automatic entry and document splitting.” The team includes “over 12 former CTOs and Kaggle Grandmasters.” Bakuraku offers a comprehensive integrated platform covering “expense management, invoice processing, corporate cards, workflows, electronic ledger compliance, attendance, and accounts receivable.”
The startup closed Series B funding within two years of securing Series A in November 2023. Its signature platform, Bakuraku Suite, is experiencing significant growth, the 7-year-old company said.
“We overtook 10,000 customers in February 2024, reaching 15,000 by April 2025, and more enterprise clients were involved,” the CEO said. “The number of employees has increased from approximately 220 employees in October 2023 to around 430 as of the end of July 2025.”
Layerx is on track to $68 million, worth 10 billion yen, according to the company, faster than any SaaS company in Japanese history. “The growth benchmark known as the T2D3 is expected to be achieved earlier than expected and exceed previous domestic records, which took eight years from the launch of the product within five years,” Fukushima said.
AI Workforce is Mitsui & Co. and Mufg Bank counts among clients, Bakuraku serves customers such as Ippudo, Iris Ohyama, The Imperial Hotel, Sekisui Chemical and more.
Looking forward to it, the company aims to reach approximately $680 million (¥100 billion) in annual recurring revenue by 2030, with roughly half of the AI Agent business expected. It also plans to increase its workforce to approximately 1,000 by 2028.
