According to Bloomberg, Automation Anywhere, a robotic process automation (RPA) software business, is planning for an IPO (initial public offering) that might take place in 2022.
The purchase is intended to aid the vendor's AI platform's process discovery while also providing a well-rounded solution in time for its IPO.
Is the Automation Anywhere IPO on the way? The company is one of the top anticipated IPOs of 2022. So, let’s dive into the details.
Automation Anywhere is a software startup that specializes in robotic process automation (RPA). It is headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota, and has more than 50 locations around the United States.
Automation 360 is the company's cloud-based enterprise automation product. It's an end-to-end cloud-native automation software. The platform enables seamless automation from every perspective.
This comprises capabilities for discovery, digitalization, automation, and optimization.
The SoftBank-backed firm assists firms in the development of software components known as bots.
These bots are used to automate operations in a variety of domains, from human resources to sales and marketing. It may, for example, automate tedious, manual processes like inputting data into spreadsheets. As a consequence, it assists businesses in saving time and money.
The following information may be found on the website of Automation Anywhere:
More than 2.8 million bots have been deployed for RPA.
More than a million people are part of the community.
There are around 1,200 things in the bot shop.
Over 90 nations are served by the company.
30,000 hours per year saved
Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services are among the companies with whom the firm has partnered. The company's key emphasis areas include technology partners, business partners, and training partners. In addition, the corporation is expanding its workforce in order to expand its operations.
Automation Anywhere Planning An IPO
According to Bloomberg, Automation Anywhere is planning for an IPO (initial public offering) that might take place in late 2022.
Automation Anywhere (AA), a cloud-based corporate automation platform that recently relaunched as Automation 360, is a close competitor to UiPath in the RPA industry. The platform has comprehensive capabilities for process identification, digitalization, automation, and optimization.
In preparation for their imminent IPO, Automation Anywhere has been bolstering their management team. They have a new CFO in James Budge, a new CIO in Sumit Johar, a new COO in Mike Micucci, and a new CMO in James Budge (Anna Rosenman).
In April, UiPath completed one of the largest software IPOs in US history. They raised $1.54 billion at a value of $29 billion. They presently have a market capitalization of $32 billion dollars.
In 2019, Automation Anywhere was valued at $6.8 billion. General Atlantic, Goldman Sachs, NEA, Salesforce Ventures, SoftBank's Vision Fund, Workday Ventures, and World Innovation Lab have all contributed to the $840 million raised thus far.
Automation Anywhere, according to Blomberg, is negotiating with investment banks to help with its IPO. The company's plans aren't set in stone yet, and the IPO may be postponed as well. It will be fascinating to observe how they evaluate their IPO offering if and when they go public.
About Automation Anywhere
Automation Anywhere is an RPA platform that creates software bots that automate end-to-end business processes. In its Bot Store, Automation Anywhere hopes to enable business clients to build software bots as well as acquire bots and digital employees. Customers may also get evaluation services to help them adopt the RPA platform and use bots, according to the company.
Automation Anywhere was created in 2003 and has offices in over 40 countries. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California.
RPA partners and prospective Automation Anywhere investors should be aware of the following:
1. RPA Market Forecast: By 2028, the worldwide RPA software market is estimated to have grown from $1.57 billion in 2020 to $13.74 billion. Grand View Research forecasts a 32.8 percent compound annual growth rate for the industry from 2021 to 2028.
2. The Value of RPA Software to MSPs and IT Consulting Firms: RPA software enables companies to build code and bots that automate formerly manual operations across numerous departments, including IT service desks, HR, finance, customer service, and more. MSPs may use RPA software to automate their own operations, and they can also provide managed RPA and bot services to automate the operations of their end-customers. RPA software is promoted by global systems integrators (GSIs) and IT consulting companies for business digital transformation initiatives. Some RPA technologies are expected to gain on in the SMB sector, according to ChannelE2E, however this progress has been modest thus far.
3. Rivals and Major RPA Software Firms: In addition to Automation Anywhere, key RPA software companies and bot software tools include Blue Prism, Microsoft Power Automate, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and UiPath.
THE MARKET AWAITS IPO NEWS
Automation Anywhere is expected to go public shortly, according to investors. In the year 2022, the company's introduction into the market is one of the most anticipated.
In August 2021, Veligera Capital purchased Automation Anywhere stock.
When software experts with IPO expertise were invited to join the team last year, Automation Anywhere drew the attention of investors.
James Budge was named chief financial officer in May, while Mike Micucci was named chief operating officer in June.
Other Reports About Automation Anywhere IPO
One of the top RPA technology vendors, according to published sources, is planning an initial public offering later this year. Automation Anywhere, located in San Jose, Calif., is engaging with investment banks as it prepares to go public, according to Bloomberg News.
Despite the fact that the sector has experienced a significant surge in consolidation in the past year, with enterprise software heavyweights like Microsoft, Salesforce, SAP, IBM, and ServiceNow acquiring smaller RPA providers, a recent analysis found that RPA pure plays are still surviving. In fact, the greatest story of 2021 thus far has been Automation Anywhere rival UiPath's successful IPO in April.
Automation Anywhere intends to emulate UiPath's success by leveraging its position as one of the largest players in the RPA market (the New York City-based business raised more than $1.5 billion in its IPO and its shares have grown 13 percent since the IPO).
Automation Anywhere has collected nearly $850 million in private venture finance since 2018, according to Crunchbase, with SoftBank's Vision Fund being the top investor. The company's worth was put at $6.8 billion after its most recent investment round in November of 2019.
Automation Anywhere to acquire FortressIQ
FortressIQ, a process discovery and mining company, has signed a formal agreement to be acquired by Automation Anywhere.
On Dec. 23, the robotic process automation (RPA) firm published the acquisition's specifics. The deal is expected to finalize in early January. The purchase cost was not revealed by either Automation Anywhere or FortressIQ.
Automation Anywhere, together with UiPath, was founded in 2003 and is considered one of the top independent RPA providers. Customers may use the vendor's products to use AI-powered "digital employees," or bots, to automate business operations.
Automation Anywhere will be able to improve its AI-powered, cloud-native Automation 360 platform with process identification, insight, and optimization, allowing clients to expand to any system or application, thanks to the purchase of FortressIQ. Customers will also get new tools with built-in intelligence for determining which tasks can and should be automated rapidly.
"FortressIQ is a method of supercharging RPA because it enables us to input new things to automate into our platform and do it incredibly rapidly and effectively," Automation Anywhere's chief operating officer Mike Micucci said.
Preparing to go public
According to RPA2AI Research analyst Kashyap Kompella, the purchase is a method for the vendor to build out its product offering as it prepares for an IPO in 2022.
"This FortressIQ purchase will enable them to say, 'We have all the parts necessary for large-scale initiatives, large-scale automation, or digital transformation projects,'" Kompella said.
Because process intelligence, which includes process mining and process discovery, is a complementary technology to process automation, many of the RPA market's major companies have included it into their portfolios before going public. As it prepared for an IPO two years ago, Automation Anywhere rival UiPath bought ProcessGold, a process mining firm. Process intelligence is also a strong suit for other RPA suppliers, such as Kyron.
"This purchase helps Automation Anywhere catch up in terms of process intelligence," Kompella added.
An interesting position
FortressIQ is now in an intriguing position as a result of the purchase. The startup, which was launched in 2017, has technical relationships with Microsoft Power Automate and Blue Prism, a competitor to Automation Anywhere.
Microsoft purchased RPA startup Softomotive last year in order to create a low-code solution for Power Automate customers. While Blue Prism is scheduled to be bought by Vista, a private equity group, the RPA provider was previously one of the top process automation companies.
FortressIQ's ties with Microsoft and Blue Prism are likely to be deprioritized when it merges with Automation Anywhere, according to Kompella. Customers that use Microsoft Power Automate or Blue Prism should build a long-term process planning approach, according to Kompella.
While collaborations are beneficial, FortressIQ founder and CEO Pankaj Chowdhry believes that being purchased by Automation Anywhere adds value to clients. Customers, he added, want a business that can take them from discovery to value realization in a single step, which is difficult to do with partnerships.
"With Automation Anywhere," Chowdhry said, "we have a greater degree of connection." "We can influence their plan, and they can influence our roadmap, so we can successfully deliver to consumers."
A natural progression
According to Jason English, an analyst at Intellyx, the purchase is a logical move for the whole sector. According to English, the first generation of RPA has shown to be capable of capturing manual labor processes and repeating human operations.
According to him, RPA providers would move toward more automated techniques of recording decision processes.
"On the downstream side, you'll see more major suppliers investing in data science," English said. "On the upstream side, you'll see more and more intelligent capture of interactions between systems and people, as well as the ability to mine processes from all of their current communication and data."
UiPath Vs. Automation Anywhere: What’s The Best Platform?
UiPath and Automation Anywhere are the two most powerful solutions in the rapidly growing automation business. Despite the high demand, many businesses lack expertise with Robotic Process Automation (RPA), making it difficult to comprehend the advantages of one solution over another.
Companies are hurrying to install technology that improves robustness, scalability, productivity, and fast access to relevant data while lowering operational costs in the post-pandemic period. RPA facilitates digital transformation for businesses with legacy technology without the risk, price, and time it takes to tear and replace outdated systems.
Top RPA suppliers are always updating their capabilities and pricing structures to meet their clients' changing demands. However, according to IDC's 2020 market prediction, UiPath stands out as the clear industry leader, with 27.1 percent of the market share.
With more than 8,500 clients, UiPath's revenue increased by 81 percent to $607.6 million last year, above the entire RPA industry growth rate. It had the third-largest software IPO in history in April, with its shares jumping 23 percent during its first public offering.
Respected organizations like Everest Group, Gartner, and Forrester have repeatedly identified UiPath as the best platform.
Automation Anywhere raises $290 million at a $6.8 billion valuation
Robotic process automation (RPA), often known as bots that may be taught to execute repetitive and dull activities, is seeing rapid development. According to Deloitte, 53 percent of organizations have started using it, and 78 percent of early adopters want to spend more on RPA in the next three years. In fact, if present trends continue, RPA is expected to attain "near universal acceptance" over the next five years.
Automation Anywhere is an incumbent in the space, with over 3,500 customers in over 90 countries, including LinkedIn, MasterCard, Comcast, Hitachi, Stanley Black & Decker, IBM, Cisco, Symantic, Juniper Networks, Tesco, Unilever, Volkswagen, Whirlpool, Quest Diagnostics, Deloitte, Boston Scientific, Dell EMC, Accenture, Cognizent, Siemens, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the World Bank, in the roughly 16 years since its founding It has increased its personnel to more than 1,750 people in 20 worldwide locations, including Boston, Dallas, New York, Baroda, Mumbai, London, Melbourne, and Japan, to accommodate the increased business. It's currently establishing the groundwork for future expansion.
Automation Anywhere said today that it has secured $290 million in series B fundraising, valued at $6.8 billion post-money. Salesforce Ventures led the round, with previous investors SoftBank Investment Advisers and Goldman Sachs contributing as well. After raising $550 million from SoftBank Investment Advisers, General Atlantic, Goldman Sachs, NEA, World Innovation Lab, and Workday Ventures last year, Automation Anywhere now has a total amount of $840 million.
The new financing will help Automation Anywhere accomplish its ambition of allowing clients to automate end-to-end operations and further its emphasis on increasing human-to-bot communication, according to CEO and cofounder Mihir Shukla. "Never before has there been such a seismic upheaval in the way we operate," he said, "with artificially intelligent software bots transforming how people, processes, and technology interact for productivity benefits."
"By automating end-to-end business processes — bridging the gap between the front and back office — this additional investment underlines the promise of the RPA category and helps our clients to achieve better business agility and higher efficiency."
The platform of Automation Anywhere uses software robots to automate operations in a variety of sectors, including (but not limited to) financial services, healthcare, insurance, life sciences, manufacturing, and telecommunications.
Its machine learning-powered systems can chew through activities that would ordinarily require hundreds of thousands of humans using a mix of standard RPA and cognitive components like unstructured data processing and natural language interpretation.
IQ Bot, which learns by studying human behavior, and the Automation Anywhere Bot Store, a marketplace of prebuilt bots for typical activities, are two of the company's standout offerings.
The former uses AI and machine learning to self-improve over time, while the latter provides over 500 ready-to-download bots configured for various jobs and software settings. IQ Bot also works with other automation systems, such as IBM Watson, to check and enhance data by using phonetic algorithms and fuzzy string matching against corporate applications.
The Automation Anywhere mobile app for Android and iOS provides management over bot activity for both attended and unattended RPA, as well as configurable notifications for tracking activity.
Operations managers and practitioners may utilize a comprehensive dashboard to monitor bot performance, network with RPA aficionados in a members-only forum, and halt and resume action at the touch of a button.
Bots that are both custom-tailored and preconfigured may automate certain activities and workflows, as well as elements of specified job responsibilities, resulting in a 70% speedup in business operations and a 50% reduction in implementation costs. According to Automation Anywhere, most of its clients automate 70% of repetitive jobs in four weeks.
Automation Anywhere competes against industry titans in a field that Grand View Research estimates will be worth $3.97 billion by 2025. UiPath received $568 million in April at a $7 billion valuation for its AI-infused process automation solutions, while competitor Kryon received $40 million in February.
Softmotive, meanwhile, secured a $25 million tranche from a number of investors, just ahead of Automation Hero, which raised $14.5 million in March.
However, investors such as Bill Patterson, executive vice president and general manager of Salesforce Service Cloud, think Automation Anywhere has the momentum (its customers have deployed 1.6 million bots to far) to stand apart.
"Automation Anywhere enables Salesforce clients to automate tedious, manual operations so they can concentrate on what matters most – the customer," Patterson said. "We're delighted to expand our cooperation with Automation Anywhere so that we can assist even more clients automate their end-to-end business processes and speed their digital transformations."
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