The company could be close to an IPO

Robotic process automation (RPA) platform developer UiPath has closed a $750 million Series F funding round, following a post-money valuation of $35 billion.

The round was co-led by existing investors Alkeon Capital and Coatue, and included returning investors Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, IVP, Sequoia and Tiger Global.

UiPath, founded in 2005, offers an RPA platform comprising dozens of automation solutions, from task capture and process mining to document understanding and data insights.

The platform – designed to rival the likes of Microsoft Power Automate and Blue Prism – uses technologies including AI and machine learning to “automate millions of repetitive, mind-numbing tasks for business and government organizations all over the world, improving productivity, customer experience and employee job satisfaction.”

And it boasts some impressive case studies. Global business service center EDP GS used UiPath to automate more than 450 critical processes, saving more than 200,000 hours of man-time. Meanwhile, financial company EY says it helped save up to 30 percent on processing times and reduce employee training hours by 50 percent.

An IPO on the horizon?

RPA as a software category is growing swiftly across a diverse range of industries. Research from UiPath suggested that 50 percent of businesses around the world plan to increase RPA adoption as a result of COVID-19, while 65 percent of SAP customers are already using such automation technologies.

Abhi Arun, managing partner at Alkeon Capital, commented: “Automation has become a strategic imperative that is fundamentally changing the way organizations operate. We are excited to co-lead this round of funding, as well as continue to team up with the UiPath team during an important phase for the company.”

It’s not clear exactly what this “important phase” constitutes, but the company has seen significant growth, increasing its annual recurring revenue from $8 million in April 2017 to more than $200 million two years later, and multiplying its headcount by 16 over a two-year period, to more than 2,500 employees.

As reported by TechCrunch, back in December UiPath submitted a draft registration to the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering, so we can expect more activity soon.