内容来源：https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/01/layerx-uses-ai-to-cut-enterprise-back-office-workload-scores-100m-in-series-b/

内容总结：

日本AI SaaS企业LayerX完成1亿美元B轮融资，创本土初创企业成长纪录

面对人口老龄化、劳动力短缺及电子发票普及等挑战，日本企业正加速推进财务、税务、采购和人力资源的数字化转型。然而行业数据显示，仅16%的数字化改革能够成功，传统行业成功率更是低至4%-11%。领导层决心不足、企业文化僵化及数字人才匮乏成为主要阻碍。

在此背景下，日本AI SaaS初创企业LayerX近日宣布完成1亿美元B轮融资。本轮由美国Technology Cross Ventures（TCV）领投，这也是该基金首次投资日本初创企业。三菱UFJ银行、三菱UFJ创新合伙公司、JAFCO集团等机构跟投，使公司总融资额达到1.922亿美元。

LayerX成立于2018年，由曾创立新闻应用Gunosy并成功推动其上市的连续创业者福岛义典创立。其核心产品包括：服务超1.5万企业的自动化支出管理平台"Bakuraku"、与三井物产联合开发的零售数字证券投资平台"Alterna"，以及基于生成式AI的智能工作流解决方案"Ai Workforce"。

值得注意的是，Bakuraku平台通过AI驱动体验实现差异化竞争，提供涵盖费用管理、发票处理、企业卡管理等的一站式解决方案。公司团队拥有超过12位前CTO和Kaggle竞赛大师，持续升级自动录入、文档拆分等自动化功能。

成立七年来，LayerX展现出惊人增长力：客户数量从2024年2月的1万家迅速增长至2025年4月的1.5万家；员工规模从2023年10月的220人扩张至2025年7月的430人。公司预计将打破日本SaaS行业历史记录，以不足五年时间实现100亿日元营收目标。

展望未来，LayerX计划到2030财年实现约1000亿日元的年度经常性收入，其中半数将来自AI代理业务，并预计在2028年将团队规模扩展至约1000人。

中文翻译：

人口老龄化、劳动力短缺、生成式AI技术的应用以及2023年电子发票的强制推行，正推动日本企业加速财务、税务、采购和人力资源部门的自动化进程。但当前仅有16%的数字化转型能获得成功，传统行业成功率更是低至4%-11%。究其根源，领导层决心不足、组织文化僵化及数字人才匮乏构成主要障碍。LayerX推出的AI SaaS平台正是为了帮助企业实现后台流程自动化规模化。

日本AI SaaS初创企业LayerX近日完成1亿美元B轮融资，该平台致力于削减企业后台工作量。本轮由美国风投Technology Cross Ventures（TCV）领投，这也是该基金首次投资日本初创企业。虽然公司未披露估值，但确认其估值与融资规模均创日本七年龄初创公司B轮融资之最。三菱UFJ银行、三菱UFJ创新合伙公司、JAFCO集团等投资方跟投，总融资额达1.922亿美元。

核心产品包括：企业支出自动化平台Bakuraku（覆盖费用管理、发票处理对公卡业务，服务超1.5万家企业）；与三井物产联合开发的零售数字证券投资平台Alterna；以及利用生成式AI优化工作流的企业数据解决方案Ai Workforce。

创始人福岛义德毕业于东京大学机器学习专业，曾开发新闻应用Gunosy并成功推动上市。LayerX源于其2018年发起的数字化转型（DX）与区块链项目。福岛向TechCrunch透露，创业契机源于发现日本企业流程中纸质发票处理的痛点，促使团队转型AI驱动SaaS平台。Bakuraku的AI原生用户体验迅速获得市场认可，不仅促成与三菱UFJ金融集团等战略合作，更为本轮融资奠定基础。

尽管数字化浪潮席卷，多数日企仍依赖纸质文件和Excel处理报销与发票。本土市场需应对Money Forward云费用、freee、乐乐精算等竞品，全球层面则需挑战SAP Concur、Rippling等企业。在Ai Workforce领域还将与Harvey展开竞争。

Bakuraku凭借AI驱动体验构建差异化优势，持续升级"自动录入与票据分拆"功能，同时投入AI智能体与AI赋能的业务流程外包（BPO）开发。团队拥有12位前CTO及Kaggle大师级专家。该平台提供费用管理、发票处理、对公卡、工作流、电子账合规、考勤及应收账款的一站式集成解决方案。

继2023年11月A轮融资后，这家成立七年的企业不到两年再获B轮资金。其旗舰产品Bakuraku套件增长显著：客户数从2024年2月的1万家增至2025年4月的1.5万家，员工规模从2023年10月的220人扩张至2025年7月末的430人。公司预计将以快于日本所有SaaS企业的速度达成6800万美元（100亿日元）营收目标，提前实现T2D3增长基准，有望在五年内突破国内八年产品上市营收记录。

当前Ai Workforce服务三井物产、三菱UFJ银行等客户，Bakuraku则拥有一风堂、IRIS Ohyama、帝国酒店、积水化学等企业用户。公司计划到2030财年实现约6.8亿美元（1000亿日元）年度经常性收入，其中半数将来自AI智能体业务，并预计2028年将团队扩充至千人规模。

（注：文末科技会议宣传内容为重复信息，根据用户指令已作省略处理）

英文来源：

Aging demographics, labor shortages, the adoption of GenAI, and the 2023 implementation of e-invoicing are driving companies to automate finance, tax, procurement, and HR in Japan. Yet only 16% of digital transformations succeed, and that’s only 4–11% in traditional industries. The main barriers? Weak leadership commitment, a rigid culture, and a lack of digital talent. LayerX offers an AI SaaS platform to help enterprises scale back-office automation.
LayerX, a Japanese AI SaaS startup that enables businesses to cut back-office workload, 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 startup.
The company declined to disclose its valuation, but said 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 joined the Series B round, bringing the total raised to $192.2 million.
The startup’s key offerings include Bakuraku, a platform that automates corporate spending workflows, covering expense management, invoice processing, and corporate card operations — for more than 15,000 companies; 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 in 2018 by serial entrepreneur Yoshinori Fukushima, who studied machine learning at the University of Tokyo and previously launched the news app Gunosy, which was later listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, LayerX grew out of one of his digital transformation (DX) and blockchain projects.
The founder launched LayerX after identifying a significant bottleneck in Japan’s enterprise workflows: paper-based invoice processing. This insight prompted the team to pivot into SaaS with their AI-driven platform, Bakuraku, Fukushima told TechCrunch, adding that the platform’s AI-native user experience quickly gained traction, helping LayerX secure major strategic partnerships, including with MUFG, or Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and paving the way for its latest funding round.
Despite a wave of digitalization, many Japanese companies still rely on paper and Excel for expense reimbursements and invoice processing, the CEO continued. Domestically, the startup competes with Money Forward Cloud Keihi, freee, and Rakuraku Seisan. Globally, its rivals include SAP Concur, Rippling, Brex, Ramp, Spendesk, and Airbase. In the AI Workforce space, it faces competition from Harvey, Fukushima noted.
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Bakuraku differentiates itself with an AI-driven user experience. The company continuously upgrades automation features like “auto-entry and document splitting”, while also investing in AI agents and AI-enabled business processing outsourcing (BPO). Its 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,” Fukushima added.
The startup has closed its Series B funding less than two years after securing its Series A in November 2023. Its signature platform, the Bakuraku Suite, has seen significant growth, the seven-year-old company said.
“We passed 10,000 customers in February 2024 and reached 15,000 by April 2025, with more enterprise clients coming on board,” the CEO said. “Headcount has also grown from about 220 employees in October 2023 to around 430 as of the end of July 2025.”
LayerX is on track to reach $68 million, equivalent to ¥10 billion, faster than any SaaS company in Japan’s history, according to the company. “The growth benchmark known as T2D3 was achieved ahead of schedule, and we expect to surpass the previous domestic record, which took eight years from product launch, in under five years,” Fukushima said.
Ai Workforce counts Mitsui & Co. and MUFG Bank among its clients, while Bakuraku serves customers such as Ippudo, IRIS Ohyama, the Imperial Hotel, and Sekisui Chemical.
Looking forward, the company targets approximately $680 million (¥100 billion) in annual recurring revenue by fiscal year 2030, with roughly half expected to come from its AI agent business. It also plans to grow its workforce to around 1,000 employees by 2028.