Vertex Growth Leads US$22M Series C in Japan's X Mile AI Push

A Singapore-headquartered investor is backing Japan's push to automate its shrinking workforce. Vertex Growth has led a US$22 million Series C for X Mile, a Tokyo startup that pairs a staffing marketplace with AI-powered software for logistics, construction and manufacturing — sectors Japan's chronic labour shortage has left scrambling for workers.

X Mile's total funding now stands at ¥6.96 billion since its founding in 2019. The round also drew ALPHA, SMBC Nikko Securities, SOMPO Growth Partners, University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners, SMBC Venture Capital, Minerva Growth Partners, Japan Post Capital and JPS Growth Investment — a notably broad syndicate that mixes banks, insurers and university funds. The company said the proceeds will fund vertical AI products, acquisitions of complementary businesses and deeper partnerships with large corporations.

The startup has grown well beyond its staffing roots. What began as a platform connecting workers with employers now spans software, AI tools, M&A advisory and vehicle sales for transportation and logistics operators. Its software business has more than doubled annual recurring revenue over the past year, and the platform serves over 30,000 business locations with more than 1.2 million registered job seekers. Vertex Growth general partner Tam Hock Chuan framed the thesis plainly: X Mile's candidate-matching data, combined with automation and AI, positions it to keep compounding.

This is the kind of deal that shows how Singapore's investment arms are moving up the value chain. Vertex Growth — the growth-stage fund under Temasek-linked Vertex Holdings — is not just writing cheques into Southeast Asia's consumer startups anymore; it is backing vertical AI in mature Asian economies where demographics are the tailwind.

Why it matters for Singapore: Singapore's own workforce is ageing along a similar curve, and the playbook X Mile is executing — using AI to squeeze productivity out of "non-desk" industries like logistics and construction — maps directly onto local pain points. Deals like this also reinforce Singapore's position as the region's capital allocation hub: the city-state's investors get first look at the AI models and operating playbooks that Japan, and eventually Southeast Asia, will need. For Singaporean startups in vertical AI, the signal is that a well-capitalised regional buyer class is forming right next door.