Automation Anyplace, one of the best-funded RPA suppliers with over $1 billion capital raised up to now, went the debt route this week, securing a $200 million mortgage from Silicon Valley Financial institution, SVB Capital and Hercules Capital.
Debt raises aren’t essentially a foul factor — they’re a great tool, in particular for corporations with top annual routine earnings — however the magnitude and timing of the Automation Anyplace elevate suggests it was once extra out of necessity than selection.
“This new financing will supply operational capital for the following a number of years as Automation Anyplace continues to advance its cloud-native automation platform,” CEO Mihir Shukla instructed TechCrunch by way of electronic mail. “We’re the usage of AI and clever automation to design tech that’s available to everybody — a wide variety of commercial leaders, managers and citizen builders.”
Whilst Shukla insists Automation Anyplace’s trade is powerful, with a buyer base of round 5,000 and “over 50% earnings expansion,” the RPA marketplace has lengthy confronted headwinds as traders an increasing number of categorical skepticism that the generation, which automates repetitive tool duties at endeavor scale, can ship on its many guarantees.
PitchBook notes that stocks of UiPath — Automation Anyplace’s primary rival, which went public in April 2021 — plummeted 71% this yr. In the meantime, any other massive participant, Blue Prism, closing September agreed to promote itself to Vista Fairness Companions for £1.095 billion (about $1.5 billion).
Gartner predicts that whilst the RPA marketplace will succeed in $2.9 billion by means of the start of 2023, the expansion fee will finish considerably not up to it was once in 2021, when the section expanded by means of 30.9% in comparison to the yr prior. Assuming the $2.9 billion determine involves move, it’d translate to 19.5% expansion between the years 2021 and 2022.
