The SaaS Source: March 2026

This month’s roundup covers the latest innovations and developments from Japan’s SaaS industry, including a major acquisition by one of Japan’s leading SaaS players, fresh capital for manufacturing floor digitization, AI agents entering the nursing care sector and a co-working management platform closing its Series B.

Money Forward Acquires AKASHI to Strengthen HR Suite

Japan FinTech Observer reported that Tokyo-based SaaS giant Money Forward completed its acquisition of AKASHI, Sony Biz Networks’ cloud-based attendance management system, on March 31. The deal, valued at ¥4.18 billion, adds a platform serving 1,468 paying companies and generating ¥600 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) to Money Forward’s already extensive back-office SaaS suite. The acquisition fills a specific gap in Money Forward’s HR product lineup for mid-sized enterprises and comes alongside a strategic alliance with Sony Biz Networks for customer referrals and technical collaboration. Money Forward is also rolling out AI agents across its accounting and expense management products, signaling a broader push to evolve its platform beyond traditional SaaS workflows.

Smart Craft Raises ¥180 Million for Manufacturing Floor SaaS

The SaaS News reported that Smart Craft, a Tokyo-based provider of manufacturing execution system (MES) solutions, raised ¥180 million in pre-Series A funding on February 27, bringing its total to ¥400 million. Backed by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, the company provides a cloud-based platform that digitizes process management, quality control and inventory management for factory shop floors. Japan’s manufacturing sector remains heavily reliant on paper logs and Excel sheets for day-to-day operations and Smart Craft is targeting that gap directly with an integrated SaaS MES platform that centralizes shop floor data into a single system.

Kurashi Tech Secures Funding for AI Agents in Nursing Care

The SaaS News reported that Kurashi Tech, a Tokyo-based company specializing in AI agents for the medical and nursing care industry, secured funding from Rice Capital on March 4. The company develops AI solutions that automate administrative and documentation tasks for home-visit nursing stations and its platform has already been deployed in more than 100 such facilities across Japan. The new funding will be used to accelerate development of next-generation AI agents using NoDB and MCP technology, enabling more natural language data access and deeper integration with existing care management systems. With Japan’s rapidly ageing population driving sustained pressure on care infrastructure, the market for AI-assisted care operations is only growing.

ATOMica Closes Series B for Coworking Management SaaS

The Bridge reported (in Japanese) that ATOMica, a Japan-based operator of social coworking spaces and developer of the coworking management SaaS knotPLACE, completed the final close of its Series B round on March 6, bringing total funding raised in the round to ¥570 million and cumulative funding to ¥1.9 billion. The round drew investment from 19 regional bank-affiliated venture capital firms across Japan, reflecting strong domestic institutional confidence in ATOMica’s model. knotPLACE is now deployed across more than 120 facilities, helping operators manage everything from reservations and access control to community events and customer contracts in a single platform.