Qatar leads investment round in Celonis at $13bn valuation

Celonis, a software company based in Munich and New York, secured $1bn in funding from backers including the Qatar Investment Authority to build out its business selling software that helps companies make their operations more efficient.

The company was valued at almost $13bn as part of the round, which was sought amid rising demand for its data analysis products, co-chief executive officer Alex Rinke said in an interview. Worries about inflation and increasingly complex supply chains were driving new business, he said. Sales doubled over the past year as shifts in the broader macro environment drive companies to improve their processes and find savings, Rinke said.

The company raised $1bn a little over a year ago, in June 2021, at an $11bn valuation. Founded in 2011, Celonis is one of a number of companies developing “process mining” tools, which businesses use to discover inefficiencies in their operations that the human eye may not spot. For example, the technology can flag that a firm is double-paying an invoice due to a slight difference in spelling.

Rinke said some of the money raised could be used to acquire other businesses. Celonis completed its fourth acquisition in March, paying $100m for a startup that expanded its services across Microsoft products.

The latest funding came as an extension of last year’s Series D investment round and included participation from Activant Capital, Neuberger Berman, Alta Park Capital and Commonfund, alongside existing backers.

In addition to the $400m equity funding, Celonis also expanded its revolving credit facility to as much as $600m led by KeyBanc Capital Markets, according to a statement.