In the era of digital transformation, it is important to understand your business processes and quickly find improvements, but it is not always easy without expensive consultants. . Celonis, a start-up New York company, has created a sophisticated software solution to solve this problem and today announced a $ 50 million investment in the Accel and 83North B Series on a valuation of $ 50 million. $ 1 billion.
It is not common that a start-up company has such a high valuation at the beginning of its funding cycle, but Celonis is not a typical company. It was launched in 2011 in Munich with this idea to help companies understand their processes, which they call process extraction.
"Celonis is an intelligent system that uses logs created by computer systems such as SAP, Salesforce, Oracle and Netsuite, and automatically understands how these processes work, then intelligently recommends how they can be improved," Celonis CEO and co-founder founder Alexander Rinke explained.
The software is not magic, but helps customers visualize each business process, then looks at different ways to change the mode and where humans interact with the process or introduce a technology such as as the automation of robotic processes (RPA).
Celonis process flow. Photo: Celonis
Rinke says that the software does not just find a solution and that's the end of the story. It's a continuous process loop looking for ways to help customers operate more efficiently. This does not have to be a big change, but often involves a lot of incremental ones.
"We tell them that there are a lot of answers, we do not think there is a solution, all these little things are not working well." We emphasize these things. It is easy to implement, "he said.
Screenshot: Celonis
It seems to work. Customers include Exxon-Mobile, 3M, Merck, Lockheed-Martin and Uber. Rinke reports deals are often seven digits. The company has experienced incredible growth of 5,000% over the last 4 years and 300% just last year. Plus, it has been profitable every year since the beginning. (How many startups can say that?)
The company currently has 400 employees, but unlike most B-series investments, it does not seek to increase this money operationally. They wanted to have money for strategic purposes, so if the opportunity arose to make an acquisition or expand into a new market, they would be able to do it.
"I see the financing as a confirmation and a commitment, a sign from our investors and an indicator of what we have built and the traction we have, but for us it is more important , and our investors share that, what they really invested was the future of the company, "Rinke said. He sees an ongoing commitment to helping his clients as important as the one billion assessment.
But that does not hurt either because it is moving fast.