Auburn-based HuLoop Automation Inc. closed a $5 million funding round led by Folsom venture capital investor Moneta Ventures.
The funding round also included Rocklin-based Growth Factory, San Francisco-based Rebellion Ventures, Menlo Park-based Vibranium.VC and investors from the U.K. and Cyprus.
"Our goal at HuLoop is to democratize automation, making it accessible to non-technical professionals and to companies of all sizes," said HuLoop CEO Todd Michaud.
The HuLoop cloud-based technology offers clients a no-code or low-code platform to implement digital assistants to automate repetitive tasks.
“We are democratizing access,” Michaud said, adding that because of the no-code feature, clients don’t need to engage consultants and engineers to install HuLoop automation features.
One of HuLoop’s selling points is explaining to clients that they are paying their employees to do boring and repetitive tasks. By automating the repetitive work with business-process automation, the employees are able to focus on cognitive work, Michaud said.
“It is not AI for the sake of AI,” Michaud said. “It is building a digital workforce to support a human workforce. It is a future-of-work solution."
HuLoop targets industries that are ready for automation such as retail, consumer packaged goods, banking, credit unions and other financial services.
"We have been active in the enterprise AI space for many years and believe HuLoop is poised to lead the next round of innovation in the automation industry," said Moneta Ventures Managing Partner Lokesh Sikaria, in a news release. "Their innovative approach and commitment to customer success sets them apart, and we are excited to be part of their journey."
HuLoop launched less than two years ago to commercialize software built by Folsom-based AgreeYa Solutions, a software consulting firm.
The HuLoop platform can connect to documents, spreadsheets, datasets and application programming interfaces, or APIs, that can include payments and other transfers.
Michaud said the new money will help HuLoop expand its team, expand its products and scale up. The company has 38 employees. It has 36 clients who have signed on to its subscription model, and Michaud hopes to double that by the end of next year.
Of all the investors HuLoop sought out, Michaud said he is most grateful it got Moneta Ventures because the boutique firm is helpful and supportive. That is not to say the Moneta money was easy to get, he added. “They held us up to a high standard, probably the highest of all the investors.”
