Workflow automation startup airSlate raises $51.5M as it extends collaboration with UiPath

CLOUD

The workflow automation platform provider airSlate Inc. has topped up its war chest with a $51.5 million round of funding led by G Squared, bringing its valuation to more than $1 billion.

In addition, airSlate today announced a strategic partnership with the robotic process automation firm UiPath Inc., which also participated in the round.

AirSlate sells a low-code automation platform that’s designed to help nontechnical users to transform front- and back-office business princesses such as employee and customer onboarding, sales and ordering workflows, contracts and payments. To do this, it offers various tools including artificial intelligence-based no-code workflow automation capabilities, e-signature, RPA and document management platforms.

The company’s tools have proved to be popular, with airSlate claiming to serve more than 100 million users.

AirSlate co-founder and Chief Executive Borya Shakhnovich talked up the deal with G Squared, which believes in the company’s mission to “create solutions that empower teams to create, innovate, automate and digitally transform the way they do business.”

The round means that airSlate has become the first portfolio company of the newly launched UiPath Ventures initiative. UiPath, which created its venture capital arm earlier this year, chose to invest in airSlate after partnering with the company to help customers automate more of their business operations.

The partnership is centered around an integration that helps joint customers add automated document workflows into UiPath’s processes. Customers can now generate documents and forms with data provided by UiPath and other third-party systems, scan documents through automated workflows for approval and signing, and collect data and bring it back to UiPath.

Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. said this partnership will add value to some enterprises because many of them rely on documents and workflows for value creation. These processes are increasingly moving to digital platforms though, and enterprises want partners to help them with this.

“Combine digitization with a low/no-code interface and business users suddenly find themselves in charge of their own automation destiny,” Mueller said. “AirSlate’s latest funding round and partnership with UiPath will only increase the competition and add to the quality and value of solutions for automating the future of work.”

UiPath Chief Corporate Development Officer Vijay Khanna said partnering with airSlate will help it to realize its long-held vision of creating a fully automated enterprise.

“UiPath Ventures invests in companies that impact the world around us and further our purpose of accelerating human achievement. airSlate falls firmly into that category,” he said. “Borya’s clear and ambitious vision for the company has helped drive impressive traction in a short period of time.”

With the new capital, airSlate said, it will look to expand its midmarket and enterprise customer base while opening new go-to-market channels. It will also use the cash to support its product development and add new technical talent to its teams.

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