The SaaS Source — October 2026

This month’s roundup covers the latest innovations and developments from Japan’s SaaS industry, including Knowledge Work’s completion of an ¥8.3bn Series C for sales AI agents, Kaminashi’s ¥2.21bn Series C for frontline operations SaaS, Hillhouse’s ¥9bn tender offer to take Circlace private and TOKIUM’s approval for a Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market listing.

Knowledge Work Closes ¥8.3bn Series C for Sales AI Agents

PR Times reported (in Japanese) that Knowledge Work, a Tokyo-based sales enablement company, completed its Series C round on October 23. The final step was a ¥4.8bn debt financing, including credit facilities. Together with ¥3.5bn in equity raised in the first close, the round totals ¥8.3bn. Lenders include Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, MUFG Bank and four other banks. The company says the round marks its shift “from SaaS to an AI company.” Its offerings cover sales AI consulting, packaged sales AI agents and a Sales AI Agent OS. Cumulative funding now stands at ¥9.74bn in equity and ¥6.49bn in debt.

Kaminashi Raises ¥2.21bn Series C for Frontline Operations SaaS

The Bridge reported (in Japanese) that Kaminashi raised about ¥2.21bn in a Series C round announced on October 21. The Tokyo-based company builds SaaS for frontline workplaces such as factories and logistics sites. Incubate Fund led the round, bringing Kaminashi’s cumulative equity funding to about ¥6.1bn. The company has grown from one product at its 2023 Series B to five, now used at more than 17,000 sites across all 47 prefectures. About 70% of new orders come from multi-product contracts. Kaminashi also unveiled a “Genba Operation Hub” concept to connect shop-floor data with core business systems. Much of the data generated on Japanese shop floors is still recorded on paper forms.

Hillhouse Launches ¥9bn Tender Offer to Take Circlace Private

M&A Online reported (in Japanese) that HHH1 announced a tender offer on October 22 to acquire Circlace, a cloud transformation consultancy listed on the TSE Growth Market. HHH1 is an acquisition vehicle of Singapore-based investment firm Hillhouse Investment Management. The offer of ¥2,020 per share is a 128% premium to the prior day’s close, with a maximum purchase amount of ¥9bn. Circlace implements cloud platforms including Salesforce and ServiceNow, and sells AGAVE, its own SaaS for managing overseas employees. Its largest shareholders, Pasona Group and TQUILA, have agreed to tender their shares, and Circlace will be delisted if the offer succeeds. The tender period runs until December 7.

TOKIUM Gains Approval for TSE Growth IPO

The Bridge reported (in Japanese) that TOKIUM received approval on October 16 to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market on November 25. Its expected market capitalization is about ¥16.84bn. The Tokyo-based company provides accounting AI agents and cloud services, combining AI, its own systems and human operators to handle invoice processing, expense reimbursement and contract management on a subscription basis. Revenue rose 29.7% to about ¥5.97bn in the fiscal year ended May 2026, when TOKIUM returned to profitability. It serves 2,327 customers, including 278 listed companies, and mid-to-large enterprises account for over 80% of its ARR.