Layerx Uses Ai To Cut Enterprise Back-office Workload, Scores $100m In Series B

Aging demographics, labour shortages, the adoption of GenAI, and nan 2023 implementation of e-invoicing are driving companies to automate finance, tax, procurement, and HR successful Japan. Yet only 16% of integer transformations succeed, and that’s only 4–11% successful accepted industries. The main barriers? Weak activity commitment, a rigid culture, and a deficiency of integer talent. LayerX offers an AI SaaS level to thief enterprises standard back-office automation.

LayerX, a Japanese AI SaaS startup that enables businesses to trim back-office workload, has raised $100 cardinal successful a Series B information led by Technology Cross Ventures (TCV), marking nan U.S. fund’s first finance successful a Japanese startup.

The institution declined to disclose its valuation, but said some nan valuation and nan size of nan information are among nan largest ever raised by a seven-year-old Japanese startup astatine nan Series B stage. Other investors, including MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Innovation Partners, JAFCO Group, Keyrock Capital, Coreline Venture, and JP Investment, besides joined nan Series B round, bringing nan full raised to $192.2 million.

The startup’s cardinal offerings see Bakuraku, a level that automates firm spending workflows, covering disbursal management, invoice processing, and firm paper operations — for much than 15,000 companies; Alterna, a unit integer securities finance level developed successful business pinch Mitsui & Co.; and Ai Workforce, a generative AI solution designed to streamline workflows and harness endeavor data.

Founded successful 2018 by serial entrepreneur Yoshinori Fukushima, who studied instrumentality learning astatine nan University of Tokyo and antecedently launched nan news app Gunosy, which was later listed connected nan Tokyo Stock Exchange, LayerX grew retired of 1 of his integer translator (DX) and blockchain projects.

The laminitis launched LayerX aft identifying a important bottleneck successful Japan’s endeavor workflows: paper-based invoice processing. This penetration prompted nan squad to pivot into SaaS pinch their AI-driven platform, Bakuraku, Fukushima told TechCrunch, adding that nan platform’s AI-native personification acquisition quickly gained traction, helping LayerX unafraid awesome strategical partnerships, including pinch MUFG, or Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and paving nan measurement for its latest backing round.

Despite a activity of digitalization, galore Japanese companies still trust connected insubstantial and Excel for disbursal reimbursements and invoice processing, nan CEO continued. Domestically, nan startup competes pinch Money Forward Cloud Keihi, freee, and Rakuraku Seisan. Globally, its rivals see SAP Concur, Rippling, Brex, Ramp, Spendesk, and Airbase. In nan AI Workforce space, it faces title from Harvey, Fukushima noted.

Bakuraku differentiates itself pinch an AI-driven personification experience. The institution continuously upgrades automation features for illustration “auto-entry and archive splitting”, while besides investing successful AI agents and AI-enabled business processing outsourcing (BPO). Its squad includes “more than 12 erstwhile CTOs and a Kaggle Grandmaster.” Bakuraku offers a comprehensive, integrated level covering “expense management, invoice processing, firm cards, workflows, e-ledger compliance, attendance, and receivables—all successful 1 solution,” Fukushima added.

CEO of Layerx (Yoshinori Fukushima) and CTO of layerx (Yuki Matsumoto)

The startup has closed its Series B backing little than 2 years aft securing its Series A successful November 2023. Its signature platform, nan Bakuraku Suite, has seen important growth, nan seven-year-old institution said.

“We passed 10,000 customers successful February 2024 and reached 15,000 by April 2025, pinch much endeavor clients coming connected board,” nan CEO said. “Headcount has besides grown from astir 220 labor successful October 2023 to astir 430 arsenic of nan extremity of July 2025.”

LayerX is connected way to scope $68 million, balanced to ¥10 billion, faster than immoderate SaaS institution successful Japan’s history, according to nan company. “The maturation benchmark known arsenic T2D3 was achieved up of schedule, and we expect to surpass nan erstwhile home record, which took 8 years from merchandise launch, successful nether 5 years,” Fukushima said.

Ai Workforce counts Mitsui & Co. and MUFG Bank among its clients, while Bakuraku serves customers specified arsenic Ippudo, IRIS Ohyama, nan Imperial Hotel, and Sekisui Chemical.

Looking forward, nan institution targets astir $680 cardinal (¥100 billion) successful yearly recurring gross by fiscal twelvemonth 2030, pinch astir half expected to travel from its AI supplier business. It besides plans to turn its workforce to astir 1,000 labor by 2028.