Sequoia leads $30m Series B in Chinese RPA player

Founded in 2017, Encoo's management team includes former executives from Microsoft and UiPath, a US-based RPA player that reached a valuation of $7 billion last year. The company claims to have served more than 100 mid to large-sized enterprises, including the leading state-owned banks and State Grid Corporation of China. Revenue grew 200% year-on-year in 2019, according to a statement.

RPA systems simulate human behavior and fully automate highly manual processes, which can reduce labor costs, improve efficiency, and ensure projects are completed consistently. Encoo's robots cover financial management, human resources, operations maintenance, and customer service. 

Encoo’s RPA solution is cloud-based and follows a pay-as-you-go model to facilitate large-scale deployment. “Cloud-based RPA is a way to deliver applications quickly. It is not just SaaS [software-as-a-service], but rather a model similar to Microsoft's Office 365," said Qiufang Shi, Encoo's CTO.

To further reduce the entry-level threshold and attract more users, the company has also launched a free-registration product. This is supplemented by a learning platform intended to fast-track new users.

In addition, Encoo is working on artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities such as text recognition and data analysis with a view to embedding them into RPA processes. Local rival Laiye Technology is pursuing this strategy as well, claiming to offer the first AI-RPA solution globally. Earlier this year, Lightspeed China Partners and its global affiliate co-led a $42 million Series C for the company.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Early-stage
• Technology
• TMT
• artificial intelligence
• GSR Ventures
• Sequoia Capital