The SaaS Source: July 2025 

This month’s roundup covers the latest innovations and  developments from Japan’s SaaS industry, including international collaborations, growing enterprise adoption and management of SaaS tools, advances in AI-powered business platforms and new SaaS-based solutions supporting financial market modernization.

Korean SaaS Innovators Join Japan IT Week 2025

South Korea’s Korea Innovation Convergence Summit will return to Japan IT Week Autumn 2025, spotlighting nine high-growth SaaS startups from October 22–24 at Makuhari Messe, according to KoreaTechDesk. Organized by NIPA under the Ministry of Science and ICT, the event aims to drive cross-border collaboration between Korean startups and Japanese enterprises. Attendees can explore solutions in generative AI, edtech, marketing, cybersecurity and productivity through live demos, investor networking and 1:1 business matchmaking. The summit builds on momentum from the 2025 U.S. edition in Washington, D.C., where MOUs and partnerships were formed. Participating startups include Digitalog Technologies, Opensurvey, Plateer and F1Security, among others. With Japan’s digital transformation accelerating, the summit offers tech leaders a unique opportunity to engage with Korea’s next wave of enterprise-ready SaaS solutions. Admission is free with Japan IT Week registration.

freee Survey: Over 60% of Companies Use Paid SaaS

On July 10, freee released its 2025 SaaS Usage Report for IT Departments. ZDNET reported (in Japanese) that according to the survey of 1,019 business leaders and IT managers, 61% of companies use paid SaaS solutions, with half of those using six or more. SaaS adoption has become essential to business operations, with 95% of companies reporting either increased or stable usage compared to two years ago. However, the growing number of SaaS tools has increased the burden on IT departments, which now spend about 20% of their time on SaaS-related tasks. Among SaaS-using companies, 57% have introduced SaaS management systems and 91% of them reported positive outcomes—including reduced workload, better cost control and enhanced security and governance. Security awareness is also growing among executives, with 61% expressing concern. Sharing real-life incident cases and hosting regular training sessions are among the top methods for raising awareness, making SaaS security a critical management issue.

Toyota Tackles GenAI Limits with Custom RAG SaaS

Facing the limitations of generative AI, including hallucinated outputs and lack of source transparency, Toyota has developed an in-house RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) SaaS platform tailored to its complex business operations, according to ITmedia (in Japanese). Announced at AWS Summit Japan 2025, the system integrates Amazon Bedrock, OpenSearch and Cognito to deliver secure, domain-specific search and response capabilities across departments, from vehicle development to after-sales service. Designed with strict access controls and user-friendly interfaces, the platform ensures AI-generated answers are backed by verifiable documentation, addressing the precision and reproducibility needs of Toyota’s operations. The company’s digital transformation leaders detailed the system’s architecture, rollout strategy and efforts to encourage adoption at scale.

Fujitsu Develops SaaS RFQ Platform for ASX

According to ZDNET (in Japanese), Fujitsu announced the development of a new SaaS-based RFQ (Request for Quotation) platform, the Fujitsu RFQ Platform, built on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s (TSE) successful CONNEQTOR infrastructure. The platform will be provided to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) as part of a collaboration between ASX, TSE and Fujitsu, formalized through an MOU signed in June. CONNEQTOR, introduced in 2021, has more than 290 users and is one of Asia’s leading ETF RFQ platforms, reaching a record monthly trading volume of ¥306.4 billion in April 2025. Fujitsu will serve as the service provider for development and implementation, while TSE will offer licensing and operational support. The ASX aims to modernize its ETF trading process with the new system, which is set to launch in early 2026. Fujitsu and TSE also plan to explore broader global expansion and future collaboration beyond this platform.