Automation Anywhere eyes bigger global play
After joining the ‘ unicorn’ league following $250 million of fundraising in July, robotic process automation firm Automation Anywhere (AA) is aggressively looking to expand its geographies.
The company also plans to raise its headcount three times to 3,000 by 2019.
The automation firm, which counts technology giants Google, Cisco, and Siemens as its clients, is eyeing around $750 million of funding in the second round.
“After the first round of fundraising, we plan to set up offices in Hong Kong, West Asia, Poland, Germany, and in African. Currently, we have a presence in 19 locations, which will go up to 30 next year,” said Mihir Shukla, the company’s co-founder and chief executive officer.
The California-based firm has four offices in the US, three in India and one each in London, Melbourne, and Singapore among others. In India, it has presence in cities such as Vadodara, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. The company, which deploys bots (virtual robots) to automate processes internally, will also increase such deployment to 300 bots from the present 100.
Founded by four friends — Ankur Kothari,
Neeti Mehta Shukla, Mihir Shukla, Rushabh Parmani — Automation Anywhere had started its operations from San Jose way back in 2003.
The firm has raised one of the largest series A funding of $250 million in July, taking its enterprise valuation to $1.8 billion. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Goldman Sachs Growth Equity with participation from General Atlantic and World Innovation Lab. “We are adequately funded now. We may look at raising around $750 million in the second round,” Shukla said without giving any time line.
Enterprises across the globe are fast adopting automation to do away with routine mundane tasks in their bids to optimise cost and increase operational efficiency. Industries across the spectrum, including manufacturing, financial services, retail, logistics, pharmaceuticals among others, are using bots to save costs.
"We have been growing more than 100 per cent in the last few years and hope it to accelerate further in coming years," said Ankur Kothari, another co-founder and the firm's chief revenue officer.
The company, which has more than 1,100 enterprise customers globally, sees verticals such as banking and financial services (BFSI), manufacturing, telecom, and retail as the growth drivers.
“Apart from Indian corporates and captives of global firms in the country, other service providers and government agencies are also adopting our automation offerings," he said.
The company has partnered with 68 universities and colleges worldwide, including India, to impart digital skills to students.
“We are adequately funded now. We may look at raising around $750 million in the second round” MIHIR SHUKLA CEO, Automation Anywhere