LayerX Raises $100M for AI-Powered SaaS Platform, Aiming for $680M ARR by 2030

Japan’s aging population, labor shortages, and the adoption of GenAI are driving companies to automate finance, tax, procurement, and HR processes. However, only 16% of digital transformations are successful, with traditional industries experiencing success rates as low as 4-11%. The primary obstacles include weak leadership commitment, a rigid culture, and a lack of digital talent.

To help businesses scale back-office automation, LayerX, a Japanese AI SaaS startup, has raised $100 million in a Series B round led by Technology Cross Ventures (TCV), marking the U.S. fund’s first investment in a Japanese company. Although LayerX declined to disclose its valuation, both the valuation and the size of the round are among the largest ever raised by a seven-year-old Japanese startup at the Series B stage. Other investors, including MUFG Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Innovation Partners, JAFCO Group, Keyrock Capital, Coreline Venture, and JP Investment, also participated in the Series B round, bringing the total raised to $192.2 million.

LayerX’s key offerings include Bakuraku, a platform that automates corporate spending workflows, encompassing expense management, invoice processing, and corporate card operations for over 15,000 companies. In addition, the startup offers Alterna, a retail digital securities investment platform developed in partnership with Mitsui & Co., and Ai Workforce, a generative AI solution designed to streamline workflows and harness enterprise data.

Founded by serial entrepreneur Yoshinori Fukushima in 2018, LayerX originated from one of his digital transformation (DX) and blockchain projects. Inspired by a significant bottleneck in Japan’s enterprise workflows—paper-based invoice processing—Fukushima launched LayerX, pivoting into SaaS with its AI-driven platform, Bakuraku. The platform’s AI-native user experience quickly gained traction, helping LayerX secure major strategic partnerships, including with MUFG and other domestic competitors like Money Forward Cloud Keihi, freee, and Rakuraku Seisan. Global rivals include SAP Concur, Rippling, Brex, Ramp, Spendesk, Airbase, and Harvey in the AI Workforce space.

Bakuraku stands out with its AI-driven user experience, continuously upgrading automation features like “auto-entry and document splitting” while also investing in AI agents and AI-enabled business processing outsourcing (BPO). The team includes more than 12 former CTOs and a Kaggle Grandmaster. Bakuraku offers a comprehensive, integrated platform covering expense management, invoice processing, corporate cards, workflows, e-ledger compliance, attendance, and receivables—all in one solution.

Since closing its Series B funding less than two years after securing its Series A in November 2023, LayerX’s signature platform, the Bakuraku Suite, has seen significant growth. The company claims to have surpassed 15,000 customers by April 2025 and plans to grow its workforce from approximately 430 employees as of July 2025 to around 1,000 employees by 2028. LayerX aims to achieve $680 million (¥100 billion) in annual recurring revenue by fiscal year 2030, with roughly half expected to come from its AI agent business. Key clients include Mitsui & Co., MUFG Bank, Ippudo, IRIS Ohyama, the Imperial Hotel, and Sekisui Chemical.