Software 'Robots' Power Surging Values for Three Little-Known Startups

The companies are UiPath Inc., Blue Prism Group PRSM 3.81% PLC and Automation Anywhere Inc. They were all founded in 2005 or earlier, but it wasn't until the past few years that they took off after hitting on their current business automating simple back-office tasks and dubbing it "robotic process automation." UiPath on Monday completed a new funding round at a $3 billion valuation, said a person familiar with the process, six months after a prior round valued it at $1.1 billion. In July, rival Automation Anywhere raised its first round of financing at a $1.8 billion valuation. Shares in Blue Prism, a public company in the U.K., have risen nearly 30 times since they were listed in March 2016.