LayerX Acquires AgenticSec, Entering the Cybersecurity Domain in the AI Era. Expanding M&A Going Forward
LayerX has announced its entry into the cybersecurity domain by welcoming AgenticSec, an AI penetration testing company, into its group. This marks LayerX's first M&A.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 23, 2026 at 17:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 23, 2026 at 08:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 24, 2026 at 04:42 (20h 11m after Collected)
LayerX Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Yoshinori Fukushima; hereinafter "LayerX") announces that it has welcomed AgenticSec Inc. (hereinafter "AgenticSec") to its group, expanding into the cybersecurity domain. This is LayerX's first M&A. LayerX will continue to strengthen its M&A activities to achieve its mission.
Background
LayerX is an AI company with the mission to "Digitize all economic activities." Through a complex portfolio including the "Bakuraku" AI agent service for back offices, the "ALTERNA" Fintech service for asset management, and the "Ai Workforce" enterprise AI platform, the company solves Japan's social issues and creates a future where human creativity is maximized through the power of AI.
In the field of software development, the evolution of AI and coding agents has massively expanded development speed and implementation volume. On the other hand, how to verify and safely operate implemented software is a more critical management issue than ever before.
Considering these environmental changes, LayerX decided to welcome AgenticSec into its group and enter the security domain.
About AgenticSec
AgenticSec is a company that aims to continuously verify vulnerabilities and risks using an attacker-perspective AI agent based on an AI-native design. Seeking to execute penetration tests (security tests that verify system vulnerabilities through simulated attacks) at the same frequency as security scanners and with zero lead time, the company is attempting to revamp software security in the AI era.
The company offers "AgenticSec Pentest" as a product embodying this vision. Built on a fully automated penetration testing framework that acquires internal access without human intervention using only an IP address as input, the agent autonomously thinks, analyzes attack surfaces, and discovers vulnerabilities and intrusion routes. In addition to enabling high-frequency diagnostics—which was difficult with traditional manual penetration tests—it supports the assembly of flexible attack scenarios based on target system configuration data and past diagnostic results, supporting continuous improvement in security quality.
Sho Nakatani, Representative Director and CEO of AgenticSec, has continuously engaged in R&D for AI-utilized penetration testing. In 2025, he presented at Black Hat USA 2025 Arsenal and published papers on LLM-based agent penetration testing automation, achieving the world's first fully automated initial intrusion process for penetration testing via AI. Furthermore, patents for core technologies regarding AI penetration testing and security verification have been filed. Based on this accumulated technology, LayerX highly evaluates the growth potential of the domain AgenticSec tackles.
Regarding LayerX's M&A Strengthening
LayerX positions M&A as an important growth strategy and will actively pursue it going forward. This deal is the first step. LayerX will broadly consider targets, mainly focusing on areas growing in importance in the AI era and areas supporting Japan's digitalization infrastructure, including domains adjacent to existing businesses and possibilities for new business models.
Comment from Yuki Matsumoto, Representative Director and CTO of LayerX
"In recent software development, implementation speed has vastly increased due to the evolution of AI and coding agents. However, how to verify and safely operate what is implemented will become an even more critical area. Furthermore, as represented by the emergence of Claude Mythos, the possibility of advanced AI being utilized on the attacking side is becoming a reality, making software security more important than ever. I believe AgenticSec is a company confronting these issues with a new approach. Together with AgenticSec, LayerX will support the safe operation of Japanese software and push forward the utilization of more AI."
More details of Matsumoto's comments on this matter are published on note.
https://note.com/y_matsuwitter/n/nf039c93ed60d
Comment from Sho Nakatani, Representative Director and CEO of AgenticSec
"Cybersecurity is now a top management priority, but in reality, an 'asymmetrical battle' continues where defenders cannot keep up with the evolution of attackers. Especially recently, the attacking side is
Background
LayerX is an AI company with the mission to "Digitize all economic activities." Through a complex portfolio including the "Bakuraku" AI agent service for back offices, the "ALTERNA" Fintech service for asset management, and the "Ai Workforce" enterprise AI platform, the company solves Japan's social issues and creates a future where human creativity is maximized through the power of AI.
In the field of software development, the evolution of AI and coding agents has massively expanded development speed and implementation volume. On the other hand, how to verify and safely operate implemented software is a more critical management issue than ever before.
Considering these environmental changes, LayerX decided to welcome AgenticSec into its group and enter the security domain.
About AgenticSec
AgenticSec is a company that aims to continuously verify vulnerabilities and risks using an attacker-perspective AI agent based on an AI-native design. Seeking to execute penetration tests (security tests that verify system vulnerabilities through simulated attacks) at the same frequency as security scanners and with zero lead time, the company is attempting to revamp software security in the AI era.
The company offers "AgenticSec Pentest" as a product embodying this vision. Built on a fully automated penetration testing framework that acquires internal access without human intervention using only an IP address as input, the agent autonomously thinks, analyzes attack surfaces, and discovers vulnerabilities and intrusion routes. In addition to enabling high-frequency diagnostics—which was difficult with traditional manual penetration tests—it supports the assembly of flexible attack scenarios based on target system configuration data and past diagnostic results, supporting continuous improvement in security quality.
Sho Nakatani, Representative Director and CEO of AgenticSec, has continuously engaged in R&D for AI-utilized penetration testing. In 2025, he presented at Black Hat USA 2025 Arsenal and published papers on LLM-based agent penetration testing automation, achieving the world's first fully automated initial intrusion process for penetration testing via AI. Furthermore, patents for core technologies regarding AI penetration testing and security verification have been filed. Based on this accumulated technology, LayerX highly evaluates the growth potential of the domain AgenticSec tackles.
Regarding LayerX's M&A Strengthening
LayerX positions M&A as an important growth strategy and will actively pursue it going forward. This deal is the first step. LayerX will broadly consider targets, mainly focusing on areas growing in importance in the AI era and areas supporting Japan's digitalization infrastructure, including domains adjacent to existing businesses and possibilities for new business models.
Comment from Yuki Matsumoto, Representative Director and CTO of LayerX
"In recent software development, implementation speed has vastly increased due to the evolution of AI and coding agents. However, how to verify and safely operate what is implemented will become an even more critical area. Furthermore, as represented by the emergence of Claude Mythos, the possibility of advanced AI being utilized on the attacking side is becoming a reality, making software security more important than ever. I believe AgenticSec is a company confronting these issues with a new approach. Together with AgenticSec, LayerX will support the safe operation of Japanese software and push forward the utilization of more AI."
More details of Matsumoto's comments on this matter are published on note.
https://note.com/y_matsuwitter/n/nf039c93ed60d
Comment from Sho Nakatani, Representative Director and CEO of AgenticSec
"Cybersecurity is now a top management priority, but in reality, an 'asymmetrical battle' continues where defenders cannot keep up with the evolution of attackers. Especially recently, the attacking side is