Investing in Automation Anywhere | How to Buy Pre-IPO Shares

Automation Anywhere continues to transform industries via its end-to-end automation solutions. This company helped pioneer the integration of automation services into business systems and is recognized as a leader in AI innovation.

Additionally, its robotic process automation (RPA) software is a crucial component in some of today’s largest industrial applications. Combined with the company’s growing product offerings and network, it’s easy to see why Automation Anywhere has caught the attention of investors globally.

Despite demand for Automation Anywhere shares being through the roof, the company hasn’t announced any plans to go public. Consequently, investors will need to take additional steps to gain access to Automation Anywhere shares. Here’s how you can navigate the secondary markets and invest in Automation Anywhere Pre-IPO shares today.

What is Automation Anywhere?

Mihir Shukla, Ankur Kothari, Neeti Mehta Shukla, and Rushabh Parmani founded Automation Anywhere in 2003 to streamline desktop business tasks. At that time, the company was called Tethys Solutions, LLC. This San Jose-based firm continually expanded its offerings until achieving the ability to offer end-to-end business process automation via advanced AI algorithms.

Key Products and Features of Automation Anywhere

Automation Anywhere’s AI-based protocols were ideal for robotic process automation, enabling companies to easily transform their workforce. This AI was purpose-built to make managing large fleets of advanced robotics as simple as possible.

In 2010, Tethys Solutions officially rebranded into Automation Anywhere. This maneuver was followed by the addition of additional features to the RPA product line. These upgrades included full cloud serverless automation, enabling real-time data sharing across robotic networks.

Today, Automation Everywhere is seen as a go-to provider of automation software systems. The company’s products support task automation, no-code bot creation, enterprise-level scalability, and 100% cloud-based deployment. Additionally, the firm acquired the desktop automation firm Klevops in 2019, enabling it to improve its interface and options further.

AI Agent Studio

Automation Anywhere offers companies a low-code alternative. This system was built from the ground up to streamline AI algorithm training and integration. It features tools designed to help businesses maximize their data promptly and manage AI  algorithms more easily.

Bot Creator

One of the most powerful features offered by Automation Anywhere is the Bot Creator. This easy-to-use interface enables anyone to create bots to automate desktop and business processes. It connects to a host of other helpful bot-related services like the Bot Runner, which enables bots to share their data with the control room software.

Bot Insights

Another helpful feature that has helped the company gain more support is the Bot Insights interface. These analytics dashboard helps businesses keep track of all of the data that their newly created bots deliver. It automates crucial tasks such as tracking, processing, and optimizing bot performance.

IQBot

Automation Anywhere bots are far more advanced than traditional bots. They utilize a service called IQBot, which gives them the ability to automate complex tasks. Using AI, IQBot can sort and make sense of unstructured data, enabling it to learn from users in real time.

Control Room

The control Room is the system responsible for coordinating and managing the bots created. It can work with the Process Reasoning Engine to enable real-time context-aware decision making. The control room makes utilizing bot data to improve your workflow simple.

Historical Funding Rounds

Summary of Automation Anywhere Funding:

Total Funding: Automation Anywhere secured $840M across 5 funding rounds

Largest Round: Automation Anywhere’s largest funding round secured $300M in November 2018.

Investors: A total of 40 institutional investors back Automation Anywhere

Latest Round: The latest funding round raised $200M and was a conventional debt round held on October 3, 2022.

Funding Rounds Breakdown:

• 4 Early-Stage
• 1 Debt rounds

Key Investors:

Automation Anywhere secured investment capital from New Enterprise Associates, Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, General Atlantic, World Innovation Lab, SoftBank Vision Fund, Workday Ventures, Hercules Capital, SVB, and more.

Why Invest in Automation Anywhere?

There are several reasons why investing in Automation Anywhere could be a smart move. For one, the company’s business model is easily applicable to several industries. The company already has high-level clientele in the energy, government, financial services, healthcare, technology, telecom, and logistics sectors.

Integrate

Another reason why investors see Automation Anywhere as potentially a smart addition is its focus on making integration as smooth as possible. The platform is infrastructure agnostic, and it provides a plethora of helpful features that can drive efficiency.

Keenly, the company offers pre-built connectors and APIs that anyone can utilize in addition to the automation co-pilot feature. These options make it simple to unite apps, bots, and humans into one business strategy.

Scalable

Since Automation Anywhere offers products designed to cater to large enterprises, scalability was a main priority for Automation Anywhere’s leadership. Additionally, you can see the company’s capabilities via its current clientele, which includes global manufacturing giants like Whirlpool and Volkswagen.

Automation Anywhere has Several Strategic Partners

Automation Anywhere has partnerships with several of the leading tech firms. Specifically, the company works directly with Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services. It also has a strategic partnership with Salesforce. Each of these partnerships has helped improve operations and build consumer trust.

Automation Anywhere shows Support for Citizen Developers

Another reason why Automation Anywhere has seen success is its support for citizen developers. The company was keen to create several no or low-code tools designed to empower users to create helpful automations and utilize their data to make informed business decisions.

Recognized as a Leader in Innovation

Automation Anywhere has received several accolades since its launch. Most recently, it was featured in a Forbes piece that described its automation features as one of the seven AI wonders of the world.  It describes how AI agents and automated processing are the future of large enterprise operations. Additionally, one of the company’s co-founders, Neeti Mehta Shukla, received the Technology Pioneer Award.

Funding and Investor data sourced from Tracxn

1. Pre-IPO Secondary Marketplace

Secondary markets are purpose-built exchanges that connect pre-IPO shareholders with potential investors. These marketplaces can offer these assets because they work closely with employees, early-stage investors, and venture capitalists, who are crucial to the company’s pre-IPO growth.

Investing in pre-IPO shares of Automation Anywhere could offer strong returns if the company’s valuation increases following its IPO. It’s common for company valuations to increase following an IPO. As such, it makes sense to add pre-IPO shares to your portfolio before the firm announces plans to go public.

Secondary marketplaces have many requirements. Here are some concerns you should be made aware of:

Eligibility: This approach requires you to be an accredited investor, meaning you will have to show at least $1M in liquid assets to qualify for access.

2. Private Equity Firms

Private equity firms gain access to pre-IPO shares during investment rounds. They then offer these shares to high-net-worth accredited investors with a commission. Notably, private equity firms are known to have extra stipulations, including blocking the sale of shares for years in some cases.

3. Employee Equity Sales

Many consider employee equity sales as the best way to acquire pre-IPO shares in Automation Anywhere. This method of acquiring pre-IPO shares requires you to connect with former employees. It’s common for companies to issue shares as part of an incentive package. Notably, this profit-sharing method has become more popular, leading to more pre-IPO share opportunities for investors.

Private Transactions: There are a lot of hoops you will need to jump through to complete a private pre-IPO transaction, including creating specific legal agreements, conducting valuations, and setting in place any limitations on the transfer of the asset.

Brokerage: Brokers will take a lot of the confusion out of the pre-IPO process. These professionals can guide you through each step, ensuring full compliance and avoiding common errors untrained professionals make.

There are several risks that you should consider before jumping into the pre-IPO shares investment arena. Here are the top concerns:

Liquidity Risk

If you are looking for an asset that you can sell right away, pre-IPO shares are not the best option.

These investments can include sales and transfer clauses that prevent the transfer of the asset until certain criteria, such as the IPO’s completion, are met. It’s even common for pre-IPO shares to require you to wait years before gaining the ability to sell your assets.

Finding a Broker

If you meet the requirements and are comfortable with the risks, several platforms offer access to pre-IPO opportunities:

Forge Global: One of the largest private stock marketplaces, offering shares in late-stage startups like SpaceX, Stripe, and Databricks. Minimums typically start around $100,000.

EquityZen: A popular platform allowing accredited investors to buy into private companies with minimums as low as $5,000. Past offerings include companies like Discord and UiPath.

Rainmaker Securities: A full-service broker that helps source and negotiate private share sales, including opportunities in companies like OpenAI, Stripe, and Palantir.

Hiive: A newer platform with live bid/ask pricing for hundreds of private companies. Transparent and low-fee, with minimums starting around $25,000.

MicroVentures: Offers pooled access to late-stage companies through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), including past investments in SpaceX and Instacart.

EquityBee: Allows investors to fund employee stock option exercises at startups, often at discounted valuations, with minimums around $10,000.

Augment: A digital-first marketplace showing real-time pricing for pre-IPO shares, targeting tech-savvy investors and offering lower transaction fees.

StartEngine Private: Launched in late 2023, this platform offers accredited investors access to Regulation D offerings in later-stage, venture-backed companies. In its first nine months, it generated $16.5 million in revenue, with average investments around $32,000

Important: Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor before investing in private company shares.

Valuation of Automation Anywhere and Future IPO

Automation Anywhere qualifies as a Unicorn with a current valuation of $7.3B. The company ranks 2 in this industry, and it continues to see growth due to several factors. For one, Automation Anywhere started with a focus on catering to large enterprise-level clientele.

This focus allowed them to create purpose-built products that address several key pain points in the industrial and financial sectors. The company’s combination of advanced AI offerings, easy integration, and trackable results helped it to secure its Unicorn status and continues to drive new clients to its door.

Those holding Automation Anywhere shares seek to capitalize on the firm’s positioning and products. Automation Anywhere is well-positioned for further AI adoption, stable due to smart business management, and fully capable of cultivating a strong network of industry-leading firms.

Investing in Automation Anywhere Pre-IPO Shares | Conclusion

Investing in Automation Anywhere opens the door to greater ROI potential, alongside added risks. The company’s products are now a crucial component of some of the most successful business models in the world. As such, its potential for long-term growth looks good.

However, there are additional risks that all Pre-IPO investors need to take into consideration prior to making any investment, including no-sale restrictions. Additionally, there’s no guarantee that a company will see any increase in share value following an IPO announcement. For those who find the risks acceptable and can qualify for pre-IPO shares of Automation Anywhere, there may be a bright future ahead.

Learn about Other Pre-IPO Opportunities Now

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Pre-IPO shares are typically available only to accredited investors and carry significant risk. Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor or legal expert before making investment decisions.