Knowledge Work, a Tokyo startup that builds AI agents for corporate sales teams, said it has completed its Series C round after arranging 4.8 billion yen of debt financing, including credit lines, from seven Japanese lenders. Added to 3.5 billion yen of new shares sold in a first close, the two tranches come to 8.3 billion yen, a sum that counts credit lines that may not be drawn.

More than half of that 8.3 billion yen came as bank loans and credit lines rather than venture money, with Mizuho, SMBC and MUFG among the lenders. Two other Japanese AI-focused startups, Kaminashi and Tokyo Artisan Intelligence, announced Series C money in the same week, one of them also leaning on a bank loan.

Knowledge Work: equity in August, loans in October

The second close, announced Oct. 23, was funded by Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Shoko Chukin Bank, Shizuoka Bank and the Bank of Fukuoka, the company said in a statement. The 3.5 billion yen equity first close, a third-party share allotment, was announced in August alongside the launch of the company's "Sales AI Agent OS" platform, according to BRIDGE, a Tokyo startup news site.

With the new facilities, Knowledge Work's cumulative equity funding stands at 9.74 billion yen and its cumulative debt, including credit lines, at 6.49 billion yen, the company said. It did not disclose a valuation, how much of the debt is undrawn credit lines, or loan terms.

The company was founded in 2020 and is run by Chief Executive Koji Asano. It says it has shifted its business model from software-as-a-service to what it calls an AI company. It now sells three lines: consulting that builds and runs AI agents customized to a client's sales process, packaged AI products for standard sales tasks, and the agent operating system that sits underneath both.

BRIDGE reported that the products include a tool that writes up in-person, online and phone sales meetings and enters the records into customer-relationship software, plus AI sales role-play training. Knowledge Work cites customers including NTT Docomo Business, Mizuho Bank and Nissin Foods, and says its tools are deployed at large companies on a scale of thousands of users. The company said the new money will go into strategic investment to strengthen how it builds and runs sales AI agents.

Kaminashi and Tokyo Artisan Intelligence also raise Series C money

Two days earlier, on Oct. 21, Kaminashi, which makes software for factories, warehouses and stores, said it raised about 2.21 billion yen in a Series C led by Incubate Fund. New shareholders include Artemis Ventures, NTT Docomo Ventures, Dai-ichi Life Insurance and YMFG Capital, BRIDGE reported, with existing investor Chiba Dojo Fund also taking part.

Kaminashi's cumulative equity funding is about 6.1 billion yen, rising to more than 7.6 billion yen when borrowing is included, according to BRIDGE. The company said it has grown from one product at its 2023 Series B to five, and that about 70% of recent new orders by value came as multi-product contracts. Its tools are used at more than 17,000 sites across all 47 prefectures, it said.

The Tokyo company is pitching a plan it calls an operations hub: collecting photos, video, text and paper-form records from the shop floor, then linking them with core enterprise systems so the data can be analyzed with generative AI. A new production-results product goes on sale in November, and a first project with Kirin Group Logistics aims to link inspection and safety data to reduce accidents in warehouses.

On Oct. 26, Tokyo Artisan Intelligence, a Yokohama-based developer of edge AI systems and AI chips built on research from Tohoku University, said it raised 1.27 billion yen in the first close of its Series C. The total combines a share allotment led by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Capital, with Watakyu Holdings, the Tokyo Keiki group and ADT also subscribing, and a loan from Mizuho Bank.

The company said it completed evaluation of its "StingRay" test chip in July and has started a project to bring a next-generation chip, "Manta Ray," toward mass production. It signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Malaysian semiconductor company Oppstar in June and plans to use the money to build a production and supply chain with Malaysian partners, expand its AI systems for railways and other sites with labor shortages, and hire engineers.

Why bank money is showing up in late-stage rounds

Debt lets a startup add cash without issuing more shares, which limits dilution for founders and existing investors, though loans must be repaid from cash flow or future fundraising. The deals come as AI companies take a large share of venture money across the region, as shown in data on Asia's third-quarter startup funding, while backers still need an eventual exit through a listing or sale to cash out.

For Knowledge Work, the bank tranche is now larger than the equity raised in the same round, and its cumulative debt, including credit lines, is equal to about two-thirds of the equity it has raised since 2020. Kaminashi's borrowing adds at least about 1.5 billion yen on top of its equity, based on the figures BRIDGE reported.

For Kaminashi, the next marker is the November launch of its production-results product, the first piece of the hub plan it raised the new money to build.