AI Startup Fractal Analytics To Raise $200 Mn From Apax Partners

Mumbai-headquartered data analytics company Fractal Analytics will raise $200 Mn (INR 1420Cr) in fresh funding from private equity group Apax Partners in exchange for about 45% stake in the company.

The PE firm will buy out stakes from existing shareholders such as Malaysian sovereign investor Khazanah and TA Associates, as well as an issue of new shares to the PE firm, the companies said in a joint news release. The deal is expected to be closed by February 2019.

Fractal Analytics plans to use the proceeds to accelerate growth, both organically and through M&A, and to invest further in artificial intelligence products and research.

With operations in the US, Fractal Analytics was founded in 2000 by a five-member team including IIM Ahmedabad alumni Srikanth Velamakanni and Pranay Agrawal, along with Nirmal Palaparthi, Pradeep Suryanarayan, and Ramakrishna Reddy.

The company has raised $125 Mn (INR 873.8 Cr) till date from investors like Boston-based TA Associates, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah, among others. The company has maintained 40% Y-o-Y growth in revenue over seven successive quarters. Fractal’s goal is to build the first $1Bn revenue company in the artificial intelligence space.

With over 14 offices worldwide including London, Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore and Dubai, Fractal, with a team of 1,200 people, caters to clients in over 100 countries. Fractal’s flagship product ‘Customer Genomics’ is aimed at helping marketers learn complex customer behaviour at an individual level.

It had acquired behavioural architecture company Final Mile in March 2018 and Singapore-based mobile big data startup Mobius Innovations in January 2015, as it looks to deepen its foothold in the global market.

The big data and business analytics (BDA) market accounted for $8.5 Bn in 2017 and is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 29.7% to $40.6 Bn by 2023.

[The development was reported by ET.]

Update: January 17, 2019

The story has been updated to include confirmation of the deal by the companies.