World News – AU – UiPath files confidential IPO filing and could become one of the largest tech companies in New York City

The robotic process automation company UiPath submitted a draft registration for an IPO to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.

The company with the rank no. 50 on this year’s CNBC Disruptor 50 list did not disclose its financial information, nor did it indicate how many shares would be offered.

UiPath is the latest company to benefit from a bull market that persists despite nine months of the coronavirus pandemic and a difficult year for the overall economy. Three of the 10 Biggest Tech IPOs for U. . S.. . Companies raised capital this year. Two occurred on consecutive days over the past week when DoorDash and Airbnb started trading in December. 9 and 10. The other was software company Snowflake, which debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in September.

Investors and bankers have told CNBC that UiPath is among a large number of subscription software companies that could make a significant debut over the next year. Others include GitLab, a site that helps developers share and manage code. HashiCorp, which provides software to automate cloud infrastructure; Databricks, a software provider that enables companies to analyze and use large amounts of data; and Tanium, a cloud security provider. On Thursday, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and online trader Poshmark announced their intention to go public.

Earlier this year, UiPath raised $ 225 million at $ 10. 2 billion valuation? one that it would rank among New York’s most valuable tech companies like Etsy and MongoDB at the time of its Wall Street debut. The round was led by Alkeon Capital Management, a technology-focused hedge fund that has become one of the top performers in the industry this year by betting heavily on e-commerce retailers and work-from-home games.

UiPath uses artificial intelligence to create software robots that businesses can use to automate back office, repetitive, and time-consuming tasks. The goal is to keep people away from this job and allow them to focus on things that add more value to a company. Investors see promising results: Since the company was founded in 2005, UiPath has raised over $ 1 billion in funding from investors such as Coatue, Dragoneer, Sands Capital and Wellington. The company claims annual sales of approximately $ 360 million and more than 6. Have 300 customers including Amazon, Bank of America, and Verizon. It is said that 50% of Fortune 20 companies are customers.

As companies use UiPath AI and other advanced technologies to help them digitalize, the whole topic of robotics seems eerily dystopian. The concern is that robots are replacing humans in all kinds of tasks, repetitively and in different ways. UiPath says its software is not meant to replace people, but rather to allow them to focus on parts of their work that only humans can do.

The company, which issued a press release announcing its IPO registration, declined CNBC’s request for comment. Founder and CEO Daniel Dines said in a July statement, « Covid-19 has increased the critical need for automation to overcome challenges and create value in days and weeks, not months and years. « Our customers develop, transform and are quickly successful in the new normal. « 

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UiPath, IPO, automation of robotic processes, U. . S.. . Securities and Exchange Commission