By David G. Barry
The Canada
Pension Plan Investment Board has stepped up to back a fast-growing
software company.
CPP Investments – Canada’s largest pension plan – took part in a $40
million funding round for Tray.io, extending the San Francisco company’s
$50 million Series C round. The round also included existing investors True
Ventures, GGV Capital, Spark Capital, Meritech Capital Partners and Stepstone
Group.
Tray.io is focused on remedying the unintended consequences companies face as
they undergo rapid digital transformation, a process that integrates digital technology into all areas of a business.
The startup is providing what it says is a new approach to low-code automation
and integration that changes the game for “hyperautomation.” The need for
hyperautomation is creating an opportunity that will reach $860 billion by
2025, according to Gartner, a tech industry tracker.
The new capital will be used by Tray.io for product development and
go-to-market initiatives. The company has experienced a 115% increase in
year-over-year revenue. It also has seen the number of tasks running on its
platform increased 444%.
CPP Investments is a CA$523 billion (US$409 billion) investment management
organization. Between April and August, it deployed more than US$5 billion in
private equity, credit and real assets – roughly half in funds and half in
co-investment and follow-on transactions.
CPP Investments, which manages the capital of 21 million contributors and
beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan, had a net return of 6.8% for the
fiscal year ended March 31.
For the quarter ended June 30, CPP Investments
reported a negative 4.2% net return and a decline of net assets of US$12.5
billion. It said it had a net loss of US$18 billion offset by contributions to
the fund of $5.48 billion.