Skael raises $38M for its AI-powered automation platform

San Francisco-based automation startup Skael Inc. today announced that it has closed a $38 million Series A funding round led by RTP Global.

Dell Technologies Inc.’s venture capital arm and Bonfire Ventures, which led a $4.1 million seed funding round for the startup in 2020, contributed as well. Skael is the latest in a series of automation software providers to have raised funding recently amid strong demand from enterprises seeking to streamline manual processes. 

Skael provides a software platform that companies can use to automate repetitive business tasks such as copying data between applications. The platform includes a collection of artificial intelligence assistants that each focus on performing a different set of business tasks. Workers can use natural-language commands to interact with the assistants. 

One of Skael’s assistants automates sales-related tasks, such as updating transaction records in a company’s customer relationship management system. Another can automatically answer frequently recurring customer support requests. Skael also features chatbots for automating tasks across other areas such as human resources and accounting.

A key selling point of Skael’s platform is that it doesn’t require specialized technical know-how to use. The startup provides a drag-and-drop interface that allows workers to define how a chatbot should go about performing a given task without writing any code. Additionally, Skael promises to simplify the often complex process of integrating a chatbot with the business applications that it uses to carry out its task.

Skael is promising several benefits for companies. 

Organizations with limited in-house technical expertise must often partner with a professional services firm to help them implement automation software in their business operations.  According to Skael, its platform’s drag and drop interface simplifies the task to such a degree that organizations can manage the implementation process in-house. This potentially reduces the cost of automation initiatives. 

Another benefit of its approach, Skael says, is that reducing the amount of complexity involved in setting up automation software speeds up deployment times. The startup says that organizations can deploy its technology in weeks compared with the months it often takes to set up new enterprise applications.

Skael provides its platform as a managed service. Companies can optionally set up the software in their own public cloud environments or on on-premises infrastructure. 

The startup generated $7 million in annual recurring revenue last year and aims to grow its sales by 240% during 2022, VentureBeat reported today. Skael counts Google LLC and multiple banks among its customers. 

“SKAEL is one of the first companies I’ve seen that is able to handle the complexities of hyperautomation all while creating a dead simple UI which practically anyone from Googlers to municipal government employees can interact with,” said RTP Global Partner Julius Schwerin.

To maintain its revenue momentum, the startup plans to expand sales and marketing operations as well as grow its international presence. Skael also intends to step up product development efforts in parallel. The startup is currently developing a new AI assistant that can automatically retrieve business data for workers to spare them the hassle of manually sifting through internal company documents.

The automation software market in which Skael competes is growing rapidly.  UiPath Inc., a leading maker of robotic process automation software, grew its annualized recurring revenue by 58% during the quarter ended October 31 thanks to strong enterprise demand.

Image: Skael