RPA specialist UiPath raises $568m to build AI capability

Robotic process automation (RPA) software company, UiPath, has a Series D investment round raising $568 million at a post-money valuation of $7 billion. According to Marie Myers, UiPath’s CFO, the funds will be used for R&D and development of the New York-based firm’s product platform, in particular a product based on artificial intelligence. “UiPath started out with RPA technology seven years ago and the focus was the automation of back-office process, and the business has matured from there,” Myers said. “While RPA is the automation of repeatable tasks, AI is about taking and managing data to automate more complicated tasks. AI is the natural next step and it opens the gateway to cognitive computing.” This latest financing by UiPath was led by venture capital investor Coatue and joined by Dragoneer, Wellington, Sands Capital, as well as funds advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, UiPAth said. Accel, which led the Series A and Series B rounds, and CapitalG and Sequoia who led the Series C round, all participated in this round, as did other existing investors, including IVP and Madrona Venture Group. UiPath closed its Series A funding in April 2017, at which point it was valued at $110m. Revenues have grown from just over $8m to more than $200m over the same period, and UiPath claims 400,000 users worldwide across 200 countries. The company numbers American Fidelity, BankUnited, Japan Exchange Group and Shinshei Grop among its customers. According to Myers, who joined UiPath as CFO last January from HP, where she was global controller for finance, the financial services sector will be an increasingly important market for UiPath because of its high level of compliance requirements, which can be automated. UiPath’s RPA products have also been notably successful in Japan because the country has culturally been open to the use of robots, and also because of its shortage of skilled labour, Myers said. Overall, UiPath’s revenues are more or less equally derived from US, European and Asian business. In part, the proceeds of the latest funding round will be used to double the number of UiPath’s offices, currently 20.