Process mining specialist Celonis goes from dull, to worth-$11-billion-dull.
Software is taking a growing bite from work previously done by consultants.
German-born process mining specialist Celonis has raised $1 billion in a Series D funding round, valuing the Munich and New York-based company at $11 billion. Durable Capital Partners LP and T. Rowe Price Associates led the landmark investment round, supported by Franklin Templeton, and Splunk Ventures.
Founded in 2011, Celonis names a heavyweight roster of bluechips as customers, including ABB, AstraZeneca, Bosch, Coca-Cola, Citibank, Dell, GSK, John Deere, L’Oréal, Siemens, Uber, Vodafone and Whirlpool.
Celonis EMS (execution management system) sits on top of IT systems like ERP and CRM systems, pulls real-time data from them, and applies process intelligence in order to help identify and unlock execution capacity. It also takes on workloads typically farmed out to consultants ahead of major IT migrations, reducing the need for workshops and surveys by helping users optimise processes pre-migration and automate process documentation.
The company is also taking a growing bite out of the ESG/emissions data market. Among its users is EY. The consultancy's Sustainability Workbench taps Celonis to track and monitor the carbon emissions level across each activity of a process and understand the contributors in order to take pre-emptive measures.
"Celonis uniquely sits at the center of one of the biggest technology trends of our time -- modernizing businesses with data-driven and intelligent execution,” said Henry Ellenbogen, Durable's CIO. “Celonis is a rare gem that has a massive market potential to create a new and modern way to run your business.”
What does Celonis do?
Celonis pulls log data from any existing IT system (although pulling insight from large ERP systems appears to be the starting point for many users) and shapes it into a real-time, comprehensive visual of how processes really operate and where bottlenecks are. By spotting redundancies or instances of user error it claims to be able to transform how well a system supports its business. Examples the company provides in its whitepapers include: Securing a 30% improvement in the master data management process of a high-end automobile components manufacturer by identifying and removing a troublesome process step; driving $1 million in annual savings for an energy company through supply optimisation; delivering a 20% improvement in time to market for a telecommunications company.
See also: Redis valued at $2 billion in $110 Series G funding round
Celonis software is often pointed at Accounts Receivable (A/R) departments to help optimise workflows there. As one company blog notes: "You may discover that frequent payment delays in a particular region are being caused by incorrect pricing, and that will boil down to faulty master data. This is something relatively easy to fix. But only if you know that’s where the problem lies. Alternatively, you may find that manual invoice creation is resulting in errors and delays, which suggests automating that particular workflow could have a huge impact on your department."
“As companies grow, inefficiency creeps in and business execution becomes a struggle. Employees feel it, customers feel it, and it leads to significant financial losses and environmental impact,” said Alex Rinke, co-CEO and co-founder of Celonis in a release on the $1 billion funding round June 2, 2021. “We are thrilled and honored that the rise of execution management is defining a new software stack that helps customers reimagine how they execute. It is the biggest shift in software since cloud computing.”
The funding follows a $290 million Series C in November 2019, $50 million Series B in June 2018, and $27.5 million from a Series A in June 2016.
