Blue Prism More than Doubles Revenue in FY2017 and Secures £70M
via Placing in Public Markets
Award-Winning RPA Company Accelerates Sales and Marketing Efforts
for its Industry-Leading Digital Workforce
LONDON and AUSTIN, Texas — Jan. 30, 2018 — Following the successful close of its second fiscal year [ending Oct. 31, 2017] since debuting on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2016, Blue Prism (AIM: PRSM), announced on January 25 a placing of £70M (approx. US $100M) of shares, of which £40M (approx. US $60M) resulted from an issue of new shares to new and existing institutional investors.
The funds raised through the issuance of new shares will be used to accelerate the company’s sales and marketing activities across the globe. The new investment will also contribute to driving further innovation in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and the expanded distribution of the company’s market-leading Digital Workforce Operating System.
While the US market remains a key focus for Blue Prism, the company continues to see a strong emerging global opportunity for its software evidenced by over 300 net new customers across the globe in 2017. Meeting the demand for its RPA software and expanding Intelligent Automation capabilities through product updates and the TAP (Technology Alliance Program), Blue Prism will use the funds to drive new product development, expand its channel partner base, drive global growth and strengthen additional technology and distribution alliances. With the industry’s first and only certified RPA reference architectures for Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, customers are seeing the benefits of TAP MAGIC, the Blue Prism alliances with Microsoft, Amazon, Google, IBM in the cloud and with successful in-cloud deployments.
“As often acknowledged by our competitors, Blue Prism created the RPA software market and has been the consistent thought leader in the category. We are delighted with the support of our long-term institutional shareholders whilst welcoming many new names to the register. With the foundation of a strong balance sheet and no debt, Blue Prism has raised £70M with only a 5 percent dilution to existing shareholders, in less than three weeks,” said Alastair Bathgate, Blue Prism Group CEO. “With this investment, and strong support from customers, partners, investors and employees, we are well positioned to accelerate our growth across the globe.”
Company Closes FY2017 with Surge in Revenue, Customers and Industry Accolades
Blue Prism closed FY2017 with revenue up 155 percent to £24.5m, driven by new and existing customers in emerging geographies. The company closed 609 new software deals which included 324 new enterprise customers across the United States, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand— a 238 percent increase over FY2016. Blue Prism’s customer base in the United States grew to 135 versus 2H FY2016, with 109 new customers versus 18 FY2016, 63 upsells versus 19 FY2016 and three US renewals versus FY2016.
“Blue Prism’s market momentum comes as no surprise to KPMG. It reflects the power of our collaboration and ability to help clients integrate a digital workforce that effectively provides governance, intelligence, security and compliance,” said Todd Lohr, Principal, Advisory, KPMG LLP. “As more clients ramp up automation deployments, we are moving in lockstep with Blue Prism to provide leading capabilities and services to deliver the digital workforce of the future.”
Over the past year, the company also added several established brands to its roster of clients including AIG, Alberta Treasury Bureau, Allstate Insurance, Bechtel, Boeing, DeNA, DTE Energy, Dun & Bradstreet, Ericsson, Fannie Mae, GIC, Honda Motor Company, Kaiser Permanente, KBL Bank, Maybank, National Grid, Schroders, Sony Pictures, United Utilities and Walgreens.
Blue Prism finished 2017 with all renewals achieved for the fiscal year and attained the highest customer satisfaction rating of 96 percent in an independent customer survey by Knowledge Capital Partners (to download report click here). The survey of global Blue Prism customers highlighted satisfaction for platform adaptability, scalability, security and employee satisfaction.
“With its transparency as a public company, Blue Prism has become the bellwether for the RPA industry. Its latest results show strong growth and the largest publicly announced fund raising, in one go, that we have seen in the RPA market to date,” said Sarah Burnett, Vice President at Everest Group, one of the world’s largest and leading global services and RPA analyst firms. “As the market for RPA continues to skyrocket, Blue Prism is poised to benefit with a strategy for growth that builds on its capabilities, sales and technology partnerships, and geographic presence.”
In 2017, Blue Prism was named one of MIT Tech Review’s 50 Smartest Companies and recognized as the winner of the 2017 UK Tech awards. The company also unveiled Version 6 of its RPA platform, which accelerates access to cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and cloud capabilities.
About Blue Prism
As the pioneer, innovator and market leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Blue Prism delivers the world’s most successful Digital Workforce. The company’s software robots automate repetitive administrative tasks while meeting the requirements of the most demanding IT environments, where security, compliance and scalability are paramount.
Blue Prism provides a scalable and robust execution platform for best-of-breed AI and cognitive technologies and has emerged as the trusted and secure RPA platform of choice for the Fortune 500. Billions of transactions and hundreds of millions of hours of work are executed on Blue Prism robots from renowned companies including Aegon, BNY Mellon, Commerzbank, IBM, ING, Maersk, Nokia, Nordea, Procter & Gamble, Raiffeisen Bank, Siemens, Westpac and Zurich. For more information about Blue Prism (AIM: PRSM), visit www.blueprism.com and follow the company on LinkedIn and Twitter.
