Top venture capital firms continue to pour money into software robotics companies that promise to automate monotonous business operations, like processing mortgage applications, that are often performed by humans.
New York-based UiPath is the latest such company to score a haul, announcing Tuesday it raised $225 million in a Series C funding round co-led by earlier investor CapitalG—the growth equity investment fund of Google parent company Alphabet—and Sequoia Capital, a new investor.
That follows the $250 million raised in a Series A round announced in July by UiPath’s competitor Automation Anywhere, which is based in San Jose, CA. Both companies now claim valuations well into unicorn territory. (A unicorn is a privately held company with a valuation of more than $1 billion.)
UiPath, which has now raised a total of more than over $400 million, pegs its valuation at $3 billion following the Series C funding. The company’s full list of backers includes Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, Credo Ventures, and Accel.
Automation Anywhere, whose founders had bootstrapped its funding since its inception in 2003, says its post-money valuation after its Series A round is $1.8 billion. That fundraising was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, joined by General Atlantic and World Innovation Lab.
The two rivals, along with other companies including London-based public company Blue Prism (LON: PRSM) and New York-based Kryon, are vying for customers in a global market described under the umbrella term “robotic process automation.” Companies in the sector use artificial intelligence software and other methods to create digital workforces of software robots to take over mundane operational tasks in a broad range of industries. According to a Global Market Insights report, that market is expected to exceed $5 billion by 2024.
Blue Prism’s global offices include U.S. branches in Austin, TX, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
These companies aim to increase business efficiency and lower costs, but the broader impact on job markets for human beings has yet to be fully understood. Both UiPath and Automation Anywhere, which is headed by CEO and co-founder Mihir Shukla, contend that business process automation will have a positive impact on the human workforce.
“We are enabling a future where employees at every organization are empowered to automate tedious and time-consuming work, enabling them to focus on creative, challenging problems,” UiPath co-founder and CEO Daniel Dines said in a written statement announcing the company’s Series C round.
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