LayerX Secures $100M to Accelerate AI-Driven Back-Office Automation in Japan
LayerX Raises $100M to Transform Enterprise Back-Office with AI
Japanese SaaS startup LayerX has announced a $100 million Series B funding round, led by Technology Cross Ventures (TCV), marking TCV's first investment in a Japanese company. This round, joined by MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Innovation Partners, JAFCO Group, Keyrock Capital, Coreline Venture, and JP Investment, brings LayerX’s total funding to $192.2 million—one of the largest Series B rounds for a Japanese startup of its age.
Why Automation Is Urgent in Japan
Japan’s aging workforce, labor shortages, and the 2023 rollout of mandatory e-invoicing are creating mounting pressure for businesses to automate back-office operations like finance, tax, procurement, and HR. Yet, only 16% of digital transformations succeed—and just 4–11% in traditional industries. Common barriers include rigid company culture, lack of digital talent, and insufficient leadership commitment.
LayerX’s AI-Driven Solution
Founded in 2018 by Yoshinori Fukushima, LayerX helps more than 15,000 companies streamline their back-office with AI. Its core platform, Bakuraku, automates expense management, invoice processing, and corporate card operations. Other offerings include Alterna, a retail digital securities platform, and Ai Workforce, a generative AI solution for workflow automation.
LayerX CEO Yoshinori Fukushima, who previously launched Gunosy (now listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange), identified Japan’s reliance on paper-based workflows as a bottleneck and pivoted LayerX into SaaS automation. The company has since attracted strategic partnerships with giants like MUFG and Mitsui & Co.
Rapid Growth and Ambitious Goals
- LayerX surpassed 10,000 Bakuraku Suite customers in February 2024 and reached 15,000 by April 2025.
- Employee headcount doubled from 220 in late 2023 to 430 by July 2025.
- The company is on track to hit $68 million (¥10 billion) in revenue faster than any Japanese SaaS firm to date.
- LayerX expects to achieve $680 million (¥100 billion) in annual recurring revenue by 2030, with about half from its AI agent business.
Bakuraku differentiates itself with an AI-native user experience, offering integrated solutions for expense management, invoice processing, e-ledger compliance, and more. The LayerX team boasts over a dozen former CTOs and a Kaggle Grandmaster, investing heavily in AI agents and AI-enabled business process outsourcing.
Competitive Landscape
Domestically, LayerX faces competition from Money Forward Cloud Keihi, freee, and Rakuraku Seisan. Globally, its rivals include SAP Concur, Rippling, Brex, Ramp, Spendesk, Airbase, and in the AI Workforce space, Harvey.
What’s Next for LayerX?
LayerX plans to grow its workforce to 1,000 by 2028 and further expand its enterprise client base. Notable customers include Ippudo, IRIS Ohyama, the Imperial Hotel, and Sekisui Chemical. As Japanese businesses prioritize digital transformation, LayerX’s momentum highlights both the urgency and the opportunity for AI-powered back-office automation in Asia’s second-largest economy.
