Fractal Analytics, a Mumbai and San Francisco-based artificial intelligence firm, becomes the second Indian-origin startup to enter the unicorn club in 2022, after raising $360 million from the private equity firm TPG Capital Asia. The funding will be closed by the first quarter of 2022. According to industry sources, the company’s valuation has hit $1 billion as a result of the latest funding round.
The round comprised of primary investment and secondary share purchase from Apax Partners-advised funds. According to a senior executive, the British private equity firm will retain a majority stake in the company. TPG’s Puneet Bhatia and Vivek Mohan will join the board of directors of Fractal as part of the transaction. All existing directors will remain on the startup’s board, which includes Rohan Haldea, Gavin Patterson, Gulu Mirchandani, and Shashank Singh.
Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-founder, Group Chief Executive Officer of Fractal Analytics said, “We continue to see great momentum in how clients are leveraging AI to accelerate digital transformation. Fractal is building a great workplace and an innovative culture that’s driving significant client outcomes through our user-focused, decision-backward approach to solving problems.”
Fractal Analytics, founded in 2000 by IIM Ahmedabad alumni Pranay Agrawal, and Srikanth Velamakanni as well as Pradeep Suryanarayan, Nirmal Palaparthi, and Ramakrishna Reddy, offers artificial intelligence and advanced analytics solutions to Fortune 500 firms. It has an office in New York and has relocated its headquarters from Mumbai to San Francisco. Fractal Analytics claims to have over 3,500 personnel across 16 locations around the world, including India, Singapore, Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ukraine.
The company’s products include Qure.ai, a platform that assists radiologists during diagnostics; Theremin.ai, which aids in investment decisions; Eugenie.ai, which detects anomalies in high-velocity data; Crux Intelligence, a platform that assists senior executives in making strategic decisions; Samya.ai, a platform that provides revenue growth management services, which Fractal Analytics bought last year; Analytics Vidhya, a community providing industry-focused training programs and Senseforth.ai, which automates customer interactions.
The new funding comes nearly two years after it secured $200 million from Apax Partners in 2019. In 2016, Fractal raised $100 million from Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah. Fractal Analytics is one of a few firms that has taken nearly two decades to enter the elite unicorn club, despite the fact that most of the Indian startups have surpassed the billion-dollar valuation market in 6.6 years.
TPG’s investment in Fractal Analytics expands its software and enterprise portfolio. The private equity firm has been making active investments in firms that offer AI solutions. The private equity firm’s portfolio firms include C3 AI, Noodle Analytics, LLamasoft, Digital.ai, MX, and Onfido
