According to a Grand View Research report published recently, the global Robotic Process Automation (RPA) market is expected to grow at 31% from $357.5 million in 2017 to $3.11 billion by 2025. A more optimistic report published by Global Markets Insights expects the industry to grow to $5 billion by 2024. Billion Dollar Unicorn Automation Anywhere is basking in the industry’s growth right now as it continues to see valuation and interest in the company skyrocket.

Automation Anywhere’s Offerings

San Francisco-based Automation Anywhere was founded as Tethys Solutions in 2003 by Ankur Kothari, Mihir Shukla, and Neeti Mehta. In 2010, it was rebranded to become Automation Anywhere. Automation Anywhere is an enterprise-focused RPA provider that uses software robots, aka bots, to automate business processes that have never been automated by traditional technology platforms. The company combines cognitive automation and analytics to automate manually managed processes and to improve productivity and business process accuracy.

Automation Anywhere believes that it is building a digital workforce that integrates RPA capabilities with cognitive and analytics. By handing mundane tasks over to the bots, human workers can focus their attention on more complex solutions that can help them think, create, discover, and innovate. Its products are used in multiple sectors including financial services, healthcare, technology, and insurance by more than 1,100 customers across 90 countries. Its customer list includes names like Cisco, Comcast, MasterCard, Unilever, and Whirlpool, to name a few. The company claims to have the biggest Bot Store with over 65,000 users.

Automation Anywhere’s Financials

Automation Anywhere is privately held and does not disclose its financials. Back in 2010, its revenues were running at $3 million annually and the company had been profitable for over four years.

Till very recently, the company was self-financed. Given its profitability, the founders did not feel the need to get outside funding. In fact, Mihir reveals that he cut down on house expenses to pay for the organization. But things have changed since then. It has raised $550 million in funding this year from investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, General Atlantic, New Enterprise Associates, Goldman Sachs, and World Innovation Lab. Its last round of funding was held in November this year when it raised $300 million in a round led by SoftBank Vision Fund at an estimated valuation of $2.6 billion. An earlier round held in July this year had valued the company at $1.8 billion. Automation Anywhere plans to use the funds to continue to drive product and market growth.

Automation Anywhere is not the only player in the industry raking in such a big valuation. Its competitor UiPath had recently raised $265 million at a $3 billion valuation. UiPath has over 2,100 customers and claims to have annual revenues of $150 million. Using that valuation to revenue ratio, Automation Anywhere should have revenues close to $130 million.

I would like to know how you feel about interacting with bots? As their colleagues, do you find them useful? As end users, do you find interaction with them human enough?