by Joe Panettieri Dec 23, 2021

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software company Automation Anywhere has acquired FortressIQ, a process discovery, software mining and analytics company that had been backed by Microsofts venture capital fund. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This is technology M&A deal number 801 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2021. See all technology M&A deals for 2021 and 2020 listed here.

The acquisitions surfaces as Automation Anywhere gears up for a potential IPO(initial public offering).

So what does Automation Anywhere potentially gain in this deal? FortressIQs artificial intelligence software allows businesses to rapidly document their business processes. From there, partners and customers can pinpoint business operations that are ideal targets for automation. Automation Anywheres software, enhanced by the FortressIQ acquisition, will provide fast, accurate visibility on which processes can and should be automated.

Mihir Shukla, CEO & co-founder, Automation Anywhere

FortressIQ has 61 employees listed on LinkedIn. The company in May 2020 raised $30 million in Series B funding led byM12 (Microsofts venture fund), and Tiger Global Management, with participation from earlier investors Boldstart Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Eniac Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Ahead of the M&A deal, both Automation Anywhere and FortressIQ have been busy on the partner ecosystem front. Automation Anywhere launched aVerified Services Partner Program in September 2021. And FortressIQ in 2020 rolled out its Pinnacle Partner Programan enhanced partner program for management consulting, system integration (SI) and business process outsourcing (BPO) partners.

In a prepared statement about the deal, Automation Anywhere CEO Mihir Shukla said:

The Fortress IQ team are the pioneers of process intelligence, making this a perfect match. Together, Automation Anywhere and FortressIQ will reshape the future of automation, changing the way our customers automate, adapt, and accelerate as they pursue digital transformation initiatives. Im thrilled to welcome FortressIQ to the Automation Anywhere family once the transaction closes.

Added Pankaj Chowdry, CEO and founder of FortressIQ:

Automation Anywhere is a global leader of the RPA revolution, and nearly two decades later, is reimagining automation to be cloud-native, intelligent, and designed for every person in every company. We share a vision to deliver and automate at scale, as well as share common values to help customers succeed on a trusted platform. This will change the industry, and Im excited about what we can automate next.

RPA software allows businesses to write code and bots that rapidly automate manual tasks across multiple departments from IT service desks to HR, finance, customer support and more.

Theglobal RPA software marketis expected to reach $13.74 billion by 2028, up from $1.57 billion in 2020. The markets compound annual growth rate from 2021 to 2028 is expected to be 32.8%, Grand View Research predicts.

In addition to Automation Anywhere, key RPA software companies and bot software tools include Blue Prism, Microsoft Power Automate,Salesforce,ServiceNowandUiPath, among others.

Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity in the RPA software market has been steady and strong. Example deals includeSalesforce acquiring Servicetrace RPA, andServiceNow buying Intellibot.

Much of the RPA software industry focuses on enterprise customers. Still, RPA may even eventually catch on in the SMB market as MSPs seek to further automate internal and customer operations.

Two prime examples: ElectroNeek raised $20 million in June 2021 and Rewst raised $2.5 million in seed funding in November 2021. Both startups develop RPA software for MSPs in the SMB market.

Disclosure: Author Joe Panettieri is a member of Florida Funders, an angel investor network that invested in Rewst.

See more here:

Automation Anywhere Acquires FortressIQ Amid Potential IPO Journey - ChannelE2E