Internet group Baidu has participated in a $14.5m funding round for Automation Hero, a US-based developer of artificial intelligence-equipped business automation technology, through its Baidu Ventures unit.
The round was led by investment firm Atomico and included venture capital firm Cherry Ventures. Ben Blume, a principal at Atomico, will join the company’s board of directors in connection with the round.
Founded in 2017 and formerly known as SalesHero, Automation Hero has developed a software platform that combines robotic process automation (RPA) technology with artificial intelligence to help businesses automate repetitive, time-intensive software-based processes.
The product was initially aimed at helping sales teams but has since expanded to help other organisations automate tasks such as filing and assessing insurance claims. The funding will be used to grow the company’s international headcount.
Automation Hero raised $4.5m in an April 2018 seed round that included Baidu Ventures and Signals Venture Capital, an affiliate of financial services provider Signal Iduna, as well as Cherry Ventures and VC fund CometLabs.