UiPath goes public in one of the biggest US software IPOs

The PE-backed robotic process automation company raised $1.3bn after boosting its IPO price range.

UiPath, with PE investors including Accel, Coatue, Dragoneer, IVP and Sequoia, had nearly 8,000 customers at the end of January. It competes with UK-based Blue Prism and Automation Anywhere.

Automation software company UiPath saw shares climb 23pc in its stock market debut.

The company closed it first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday (21 April) at $69, with a market valuation of around $36bn.

UiPath had priced its shares at $56 each, above its expected range of $52 to $54, and the IPO raised $1.3bn.

The Romania-founded but US-headquartered company develops robotic process automation, or RPA, technology and has become a leader in the field. Its tech is used by workplaces and businesses to automate various processes.

UiPath said last year that Covid-19 had brought increased demand for skills in the area of RPA.

It revealed last month that it recorded revenues of more than $607m for the 12-month period ending January 2021, almost double that of the year prior. Net losses narrowed from $520m to $92m.

Almost half of its revenue came from the Americas, with the EMEA market accounting for 31pc of sales.

UiPath, which was founded in Bucharest in 2005, has secured nearly $2bn from investors over the years. It raised $750m in a Series F found in February that valued the company at $35bn.

According to CNBC, if underwriters buy their allotted shares, UiPath’s offering will be the third biggest in history for a US software company. It would be behind Snowflake, which raised $3.9bn in its IPO last September, and Qualtrics, which pulled in $1.55bn after spinning out from SAP earlier this year.

“This capital is going to help us to continue in our vision to invest heavily in research and development,” UiPath CEO Daniel Dines told CNBC after the stock market debut.

“And I believe that we can build a generational company that will completely shape the way people work.”

Source: Tech Crunch