Intelligent Enterprise Automation Map

Number of companies: 11
Amount raised in 2022: $39m (-22% compared to 2021)

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Business Process Management (BPM) platforms provide automation and optimisation solutions for enterprise workflows, helping businesses accelerate application development, transform business processes, and digitalise them by offering capabilities that manage various aspects of the business process lifecycle.

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Trends

• BPM platforms have consistently been among the smallest segments within the wider software automation space, both in terms of companies and capital raised. 
• In 2022, the capital invested into BPM platforms followed the general market trend, experiencing a decline from the levels seen in 2021. Furthermore, 2023 has been relatively quiet within the BPM segment, with no new investments reported.
• Looking forward, we anticipate that the BPM market will see an increasing presence of no code and low-code solutions. Companies are expected to demand these solutions to a greater extent, seeking ongoing insights to enhance agility and adaptability in an increasingly uncertain business environment.

Number of companies: 50

Amount raised in 2022: $792m (-21% compared to 2021)

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Conversational AI, which is based on NLP and NLG, have made chatbots, voicebots and virtual assistants a commodity. Traditionally, conversational AI has been used to provide information in customer-facing operations. What is mainly hindering the development in this area is the fear enterprises have of utilising truly dynamic and intelligent AI - a lot of answers are still based on rules built by humans. The sheer number of vendors in conversational AI is huge - Gartner mentions more than 2000 vendors, out of which more than 1000 are majority owned by VCs.

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Trends

• Conversational AI has witnessed a large increase in investments since 2019. In 2021, the category received a total of $1Bn in investments, although 2022 saw a slight decrease to $800M. However, all of this was overshadowed by OpenAI’s enormous investment, bringing the total investment in Conversational AI to ~$11Bn.
• In addition to OpenAI’s $10.3Bn capital raise, other large rounds did occur, such as Uniphore’s $400M Series E, which elevated the company’s valuation to $2.5Bn, granting it unicorn status for the first time.
• The development of Conversational AI applications can become one of the most revolutionising shifts in enterprise automation, affecting all categories. We expect to witness a surge in groundbreaking applications that were previously unimaginable: from revolutionising human-like automated customer interactions to streamlining internal processes with automated content creation and data analysis.

Number of companies: 58

Amount raised 2022: $588m (-68% compared to 2021)

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Cybersecurity employs advanced technologies to safeguard digital systems and data from threats, such as hackers and malware. The cultural shift towards remote work, the spread of IoT, as well as the growing number of cybersecurity attacks have increased the demand for cybersecurity solutions everywhere. Similarly to many other sectors, AI plays an increasingly important role in cybersecurity as it can examine the huge amounts of data moving across networks faster than humans and learn to recognise patterns that indicate threats.

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Trends 

• Investments into cybersecurity took a sharp decline in 2022, dropping roughly 2/3. However, during H1/2023, there was a significant decline in cybersecurity investments, dropping from ~$590M in 2022 to a mere ~$40M in H1/2023
• Vanta, a San Francisco-based company specialising in compliance and security automation software for consumer data, successfully raised $150M in a Series B round that closed in the autumn of 2022, valuing the company at $1.6Bn. 
• Given the heightened importance of security for companies, coupled with an increasing number of threats and stricter regulations, we can expect continued strong performance in the cybersecurity sector. Furthermore, this category boasts the fourth-highest number of unicorns among all categories in the Automation Map.

Number of companies: 28

Amount raised in 2022: $156m (-86% compared to 2021)

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Today, two-way API connections are practically a must have for almost all new software solutions. iPaaS platforms remove the need for each company to start from scratch in building these data pipelines, providing a ready-made integration from place A to B.

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Trends

• Investments into data integration providers & iPaas solutions tend to fluctuate significantly from year to year. In 2021, the category experienced a record year with over one billion dollars invested in it. However, in 2022 investments regressed to a more typical level seen in previous years, amounting to $160M. The first half of 2023 has continued this trend with investments falling below the historical average, totaling roughly $60M.
• The largest deal recorded in 2022 was Census’ $60M Series B round. Census is a company building a data layer between business operations and a company’s data warehouse. This latest investment brought Census closer to achieving unicorn status, and it can be expected that its next funding round will push the company’s valuation past the $1Bn mark.

Number of companies: 77

Amount raised in 2022: $1180m (-36% compared to 2021) 

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DevTools encompass a suite of software applications and utilities designed to aid developers in creating, testing, and debugging software. After the pandemic, the widespread shift to remote or hybrid work has accelerated the growth and interest in safe enterprise DevTools. A growing number of companies have looked into cloud-based developer tools, as modern cloud services offer high-quality, optimised and secure products for enterprise use as well.

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Trends

• DevTools has been one of the hottest investment categories in the early 2020s. However, there has been a noticeable decline in DevTools investments lately, mirroring the broader market trend. Notably, the capital invested in DevTools has decreased by approximately one-third.
• DevTools investments continue to align with the trend observed in H1/2023, with investments in the sector dropping by ~$1Bn, reaching ~$180M in H1/2023 – resembling the levels seen in 2016 and 2017.
• Worth mentioning is Tecton, founded in 2019, which raised an impressive $100M in a Series C round. 
• As Generative AI develops, we expect a significant transformation within the DevTools landscape, introducing innovative software development automation solutions that challenge existing players and create exciting new investment opportunities.

Number of companies: 3

Amount raised in 2022: N/A

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End-to-end automation encompasses holistic solutions that streamline entire business processes, from start to finish. By seamlessly integrating multiple automation technologies, these platforms enhance productivity, reduce errors, and accelerate task completion.

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Trends

• The same giants of the industry, UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and BluePrism, continue to enhance their all encompassing platforms.

Number of companies: 81

Amount raised in 2022: $963m (-48% compared to 2021)

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Software automation tools are a growingly important solution for enterprises in the area of finance. From secure financial transactions to data ingestion and end-to-end global payments, these solutions cater for high automation needs, for example, for pricing, procurement, quick payment solutions, tax auditing and other daily challenges of many enterprises. 

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Trends

• The Finance function witnessed remarkable growth until it reached its pinnacle in 2021, with nearly $2Bn in investments – ranking as the second-highest among all categories. However, this figure was halved in 2022 and once again in the first half of 2023, with ~$500M being invested in finance. This suggests that by the end of 2023, the level of investments will likely align with that of 2022. 
• Notably, the function has experienced substantial acquisition activity, including two delisting deals: Avalara’s $8.4Bn transaction, one of the largest M&A deals of 2022, followed by Billtrust’s $1.7Bn deal a few months later (please note that these transactions are not reflected in the number of capital raised).
• A notable VC investment involves Zip, a procurement platform founded in 2020, securing a $100M Series C round. The company secured its unicorn status already in 2022 and is now valued at $1.5Bn
• We expect to witness the full automation of backend functions to continue in the coming years, enhancing operational efficiency for companies by fully automating repetitive and manual finance workflows. Additionally, in response to the increasing regulations related to ESG in Europe, several platforms have emerged with the goal of aggregating financial and company data for ESG reporting purposes.

Number of companies:18

Amount raised in 2022: $67m (-66% compared to 2021)

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In the finance and banking sector, automation tools streamline customer transactions, loan approvals, and account management, as well as automate areas such as compliance checks and fraud detection. Automation enhances the sector’s operational efficiency, improves customer service, and ensures regulatory compliance.

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Trends

• Similar to several other categories, vertical finance & banking solutions reached their highest level of investment in 2021, only to see a drastic reduction in 2022, with investments dropping to approximately $70M. However, 2023 is more promising, as nearly $90M have already been invested in the first half of the year
• In 2022, Savana, a provider of financial process automation software for banking and mortgage companies, secured a $45M Series A round. 
• We have also seen an active M&A market in this category, particularly driven by the recently approved and closed acquisition of Black Knight at a $11.7Bn valuation. 
• There is a long term future for innovating in automation solutions for the massive finance and banking industry, as the companies seek efficiencies and have very large technology investment budgets.   

Number of companies: 42

Amount raised in 2022: $1778m (+79% compared to 2021)

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HR leverages automation tools to manage workforce-related functions and administrative tasks, from recruitment to payroll processing. These tools improve HR’s ability to focus on strategic initiatives and employee engagement.

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Trends

• Historically, the HR segment has been one of the smaller segments within the automation market. However, in 2022, HR companies saw a remarkable influx of investment, totaling ~$1.8Bn. This marked the highest investment amount in any category for that year and represented nearly double the capital invested compared to 2021. Moreover, in H1/2023, HR companies continued to attract a significant amount of funding, ranking as the third highest segment, trailing only behind Conversational AI and Sales & Marketing.
• Rippling, an employee management platform, raised an impressive $500M in funding during a time when Silicon Valley bank was going belly up, and Rippling reportedly achieved this in just 12 hours. Additionally, in mid-2022 Personio, an HR management automation provider, raised an additional $200M in its Series E round, propelling its valuation to $8.5Bn. 
• We see several trends emerging in the HR sector. One trend involves the increased use and accessibility of employee support through intelligent helpdesks powered by LLMs. Another area of focus is the continued automation of the entire hiring and onboarding process, alongside the development of tools for day-to-day HR operations.

Number of companies: 10

Amount raised in 2022: $146m (-66% compared to 2021)

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Automation has the means to transform patient care by taking repetitive tasks and automating them for better patient service and safety, as well as enhancing productivity on the care side.

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Trends

• Investments in healthcare automation experienced a steady increase until 2021. However, the trend took a sharp downturn in 2022, with only $150M being invested into the sector, marking a significant drop to one-third of the 2021 level. This trend has continued into 2023, with no reported investments in healthcare automation so far.
• In 2022, the largest investment in the healthcare sector was secured by NirvanaHealth, bringing in $60M. The company is committed to advancing healthcare automation, aiming to reduce costs and enhance the quality of healthcare processes.
• As healthcare becomes more and more digitalized, and providers and healthcare systems continuously need to cut costs and become more efficient, we expect that automation solutions built on AI will see a renaissance in this sector in the next few years.

Number of companies: 20

Amount raised in 2022: $947m (+148% compared to 2021)

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ITOps encompasses the management and maintenance of an organisation’s IT infrastructure, and automation tools enhance these processes. They automate server provisioning, configuration management, and incident response, thus enabling proactive monitoring, reducing downtime, and ensuring the reliability and scalability of IT systems.

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Trends

• Investments in the ITOps segment have exhibited significantly higher volatility compared to other segments. However, in recent years, investments in ITOps have steadily been increasing. Notably, there was an almost 2.5-fold increase in investments from 2021 to 2022, nearly reaching the $1Bn investment threshold. However, no major investments have been noted in H1/2023.
• The year 2022 witnessed a great achievement in the ITOps space, with three new unicorns emerging: BigPanda, Immuta, and Electric. In addition, Drata stood out by raising an impressive $200M Series C round, resulting in a company valuation of $2Bn.
• Looking forward, we expect to see a larger share of automatic monitoring and self-repairing systems being adopted by companies aiming to streamline their IT operations.

Number of companies: 14

Amount raised in 2022: $1,05Bn (+10875% compared to 2021)

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As businesses and their processes are getting more complex, many software companies are offering their enterprise clients clarity through process and task mining. Process and task mining technologies are often used to analyse operational processes based on event logs, turning event data into insights. In short, as process mining leader Celonis put it, process mining is a widely used technology to model, analyse, and optimise business processes – giving enterprises a clear view of how their processes are running. This is an invaluable way to expedite the understanding of both problem and outcome, which is essential for automation success.

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Trends

• This segment is one of the smallest in terms of companies but it has still managed to attract a significant amount of funding, exceeding $1Bn in 2022. This surge in funding was primarily driven by a large round secured by Celonis. However, 2023 has not yet witnessed any investments in this segment, which is largely dominated by two companies.
• As mentioned, in 2022, the German data processing company Celonis successfully secured an additional $1Bn in financing, elevating the company’s valuation to an impressive $13Bn and granting it a decacorn status. Celoni’s competitor, Skan, also raised a significant $40M Series B round.
• Identifying new opportunities is one of the segments that need to be tackled before hyper-automation can be achieved. It is still an emerging industry that we believe will have significant upside potential in the coming years. Solutions that automatically analyse knowledge work operations and identify inefficiencies in systems, processes, tools, and ways of working, are one of the puzzle pieces required to reach hyper-automation.

Number of companies: 7

Amount raised in 2022: $0m

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Automation tools in the insurance sector are automating underwriting, claims processing, and policy administration. They expedite claims approval and reduce fraud through data analysis.

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Trends

• The insurance sector faced a suboptimal year in 2022, with no venture capital dollars being invested into the category. However, 2023 seems more promising, with the first half of the year yielding a $50m investment. 
• In the beginning of 2023, Novidea, an Israeli-based data-driven insurance platform, successfully secured a $50M Series C round.
• Another industry with vast data sets and increasing levels of digitalization, is poised to see more automation solutions.

Number of companies: 27

Amount raised in 2022: $265m (-59% compared to 2021)

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Intelligent Document Processing refers to the automated extraction of data from complex documents with semi-structured or unstructured format through the use of technologies like machine learning and natural language processing. The extracted data is then converted into a structured format that can be easily utilised in companies.

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Trends

• The field of IDP has steadily attracted investments over the years. However, in 2022, investments in IDP players declined significantly, dropping by more than half to ~$270M. The year 2023 is expected to maintain a similar level of investment as 2022, with the first half year bringing in an additional $120M. 
• LegalOn Technologies, a company that provides contract review support (which could fall under the Legal category, but is included in IDP due to its excellent document processing capabilities), raised over $100M in its Series D funding round in 2022. 
• The continuous advancement of AI, along with the integration of LLMs, is expected to further enhance the capabilities of IDP. This technological evolution is likely to transform IDP solutions and capabilities in the coming years.

Number of companies: 39

Amount raised in 2022: $1,45Bn (+300% compared to 2021)

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Inventory and supply chain management employ automation tools to optimise the flow of goods and materials. Companies in this field use these tools to e.g. create predictive analytics to forecast demand, automate order placements, and monitor stock levels. This reduces carrying costs, minimises stockouts and ensures a smooth flow of goods through the supply chain.

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Trends 

• The Inventory & Supply Chain category has generally been among the smaller segments in terms of financing, with occasional spikes driven by larger players in this field. In 2022, Flexport’s securing of a substantial $935M in a Series E round marked such an occurrence. This injection of capital brought the total investment in this category to nearly $1.5Bn, ranking it as the third highest in 2022 and representing a threefold increase compared to 2021.
• Flexport’s Series E catapulted the company’s valuation to an impressive $8Bn. 
• With continuing high inflation making customer demand more uncertain, we anticipate the emergence of new solutions aimed at streamlining and optimising company inventories. We expect to witness increased automation in inventory management, coupled with data-driven decision-making tools for companies in this sector.

Number of companies: 15

Amount raised in 2022: $165m (-2% compared to 2021)

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Automation in the legal sector streamlines document drafting, contract management, and research. These tools enable law firms and legal departments to improve document accuracy and manage caseloads more effectively, ultimately reducing costs and increasing productivity.

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Trends

• Capital investments in legal companies remained roughly at a similar level to that of 2021, with ~$170M being invested. However, the first half of 2023 has shown a slowdown with only five investments conducted, amounting to a total value of $21M. 
• In 2022, Filevine, a legal workflow streamlining platform, secured a $108M Series D funding round, valuing the company just shy of $1Bn. Additionally, the Swedish company OneFlow went public with an IPO valued north of $100M.
• The emergence of LLMs is expected to drive the streamlining of the legal process, providing lawyers with actionable insights to enhance their accuracy and accelerate case analysis.

Number of companies: 18

Amount raised in 2022: $15m (-69% compared to 2021)

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In logistics and manufacturing, automation tools optimise production processes, inventory management, and order fulfilment. They employ robotics and IoT technologies to enhance warehouse operations and supply chain visibility. Automation can improve product quality, reduce lead times, and lower operational costs in these sectors.

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Trends

• The logistics sector experienced the lowest amount of investment raised within the wider automation market, with only $15M raised in 2022, and zero dollars invested in the first half of 2023. 
• The capital invested in 2022 was primarily driven by Operations1’s Series A round led by OpenOcean. Operations1 offers software aimed at digitalizing workflows for front-line workers, improving productivity and quality of manufacturers.
• Manufacturing operations and processes are being digitalized by smarter machines and IoT devices, however the utilization of such data for automation, and digital twin solutions enabling further optimization of operations, has so far been quite slow.

Number of companies: 5

Amount raised in 2022: $43m (-64% compared to 2021)

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Orchestration can be thought of as an intelligent version combining traditional BPM and iPaaS, taking the best of both worlds to create a platform for managing all automation building blocks in one single platform. The vision of Gartner, which we also share, is that a majority of intelligent automation technologies will in the future be managed via one orchestration platform, where you can manage and operate the best of breed solution for each step in an automation workflow. 

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Trends

• Orchestration is the smallest segment included in terms of number of companies, and it remains a very much emerging segment. Investments into orchestration companies reached an all-time high in 2021 and subsequently dropped sharply in 2022, with around $40M being invested. As of 2023, no investments into orchestration companies have been reported yet.
• Notably, in 2022, both C TWO and Regrello secured a $20M Series A funding round.
• Orchestration represents an underdeveloped area with huge potential. The management of complex operations is becoming harder, and as such, companies are looking for solutions to help streamline their workflows and optimise resources. This is one of the emerging areas where OpenOcean is seeking an investment in the right company.

Number of companies: 23

Amount raised in 2022: $419m (+54% compared to 2021)

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Includes areas that do not precisely fit into any of the other categories. Examples include providers of computer vision and individual knowledge worker automation.

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Trends

• The year 2022 proved to be a favourable year for this category, witnessing the second-highest investment ever recorded, and a significant increase compared to 2021, resulting in a total investment of ~$420M. However, 2023 has yet to see any significant investments in the field. 
• IPO activity in 2022 in the sector was astonishingly good. SoundHound, a voice AI provider, conducted a second SPAC to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange, valuing the company at over $2Bn. Additionally, Cloudwalk Technology, a leading AI provider in China, went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, achieving a valuation of nearly $2Bn. The company has also been sanctioned by the US.

Number of companies: 33

Amount raised in 2022: $661m (+152% compared to 2021) 

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Includes companies that do not precisely fit into any of the other categories, and focus on specific functional solutions or horizontally. Examples of companies included are design automation tools and automation solutions across the enterprise.

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Trends 

• Our category “Other horizontal & functional specific solutions” stood out as one of the only seven categories that experienced an increase in investments from 2021 to 2022. In 2022 this category attracted in excess of $650M in funding. However, the first half of 2023 has seen only one venture capital investment within this category.
• On the M&A front, the story has been considerably more lucrative. In the middle of 2023, ESI Group, a company specialising in prototyping software, was acquired for almost $1Bn. Additionally, in 2022, the category witnessed an IPO when the Chinese electronic design automation provider Empyrean Technology went public with a market value of $5.8Bn.

Number of companies: 26

Amount raised in 2022: $680m (-2% compared to 2021)

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Includes companies that do not precisely fit into any of the other categories. Examples of companies included are sales systems and research & development platforms.

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Trends

• Other vertical specific solutions performed reasonably well in 2022, maintaining a similar level of investment as in 2021, with nearly $700M being invested in this space. However, the beginning of 2023 paints a darker picture with only one investment being carried out at less than $10M value. 
• In 2022, the largest investment in this category was SpotOn’s $300M Series F round. SpotOn provides one-stop point-of-sale automation solutions for retailers and restaurants. Additionally, the hotel management platform, Mews, secured a $185M Series C round, valuing the company at $865M. 

Number of companies: 45

Amount raised in 2022: $484m (+75% compared to 2021)

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What unites companies in this subcategory, is that the automation is done using a desktop UI - either implementing automations on an end user's desktop or more typically on a virtual machine. According to Gartner, RPA remains the fastest-growing category in enterprise software, with more than 60 software vendors now part of the RPA landscape and revenues expected to surpass $2 billion in 2021. Workflows are built in a no-code platform, which typically doesn’t require (much) developer skills. 

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Trends

• The year 2022 marked a new record of investments into RPA and workflow companies, attracting almost half a billion dollars in funding. This amount nearly doubled the investment levels from the previous year. However, 2023 has proven to be slow again, with only $30M being invested in the category in H1/2023.
• Notable venture capital investments in 2022 include a $35M investment into Katana, an Estonian-based provider of manufacturing and inventory workflow automation solutions.
• We continue to see companies moving towards intelligent automation. The combination of different AI technologies, including LLMs, continue to push the industry towards hyper-automation, enabling enhanced decision-making capabilities and fostering wider adoption of advanced automation solutions. 

Number of companies: 161

Amount raised in 2022: $1484m (-43% compared to 2021)

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Sales and marketing strategies rely greatly on automation tools to reach customers and drive revenue. Examples include email marketing, social media posting, and the use of analytics to deliver personalised content and recommendations to current and potential customers.

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Trends

• The Sales & Marketing segment has consistently over time been the biggest segment in automation software. However, the market’s slowdown had a profound impact on Sales & Marketing, resulting in a nearly 50% reduction in the capital invested in the segment, amounting to ~$1.5Bn in 2022. Despite this decline, the category managed to maintain its second-place ranking, a position also retained in 2023, trailing only behind Generative AI.
• In 2022, the segment witnessed several significant M&A deals, including the acquisition of OpenOcean’s portfolio company LoopMe, the leading outcomes-based video platform, which closed at the beginning of the year. Furthermore, Klaviyo, a company specialising in email automation marketing, recently went public on the New York Stock Exchange with a valuation exceeding $9Bn.
• As the marketing function has the largest and most liquid dataset of all in the enterprise, we expect continuous strong development of automation solutions here, very much also driven by the latest AI innovations.