Ripcord, a robotics startup, is seeking $25 million in funding to further develop its technology for digitizing paper records. The company aims to raise the funds in a new funding round that would value it at $110 million pre-money. Alphabet’s GV, Lux Capital, and MUFG are reportedly in talks to participate in the round.
According to Ripcord’s CEO, Sam Fahmy, the current funding round is closer to $35 million, with $20 million already closed, including an $8.5 million bridge note from March. If successful, this round would bring Ripcord’s total raised to around $150 million, with previous investors including Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley Bank, Tyche Partners, Icon Ventures, and Baidu.
Ripcord’s technology involves the use of robots that can automatically digitize paper records, eliminating the need for manual scanning. The company has already secured a deal with the IRS for tax document processing worth over $4 million, as well as an expanded deal with the U.S. Air Force. Japanese bank chain MUFG is both a customer and investor, with an annual contract value of $5 million. Ripcord is also in the final stages of a large deal with Wells Fargo.
In 2020, Ripcord processed over 1 billion pages per year, serving customers such as Coca-Cola, BP, Chevron, UCLA, and several Fortune 100 companies. The company’s revenue was $11.8 million in 2022, up from $5.9 million in 2021, and it expects to end 2023 with $22.5 million in revenue.
Ripcord was founded by three entrepreneurs, including a former Apple engineer, a NASA veteran, and another co-founder, and it develops physical robots that autonomously scan documents. It also provides services such as document storage and recycling. The company makes money by charging for document scans and also applies machine learning and generative AI to validate the data in the scanned documents.
To fuel its future growth, Ripcord is developing a generative AI tool called Docufai, designed for document discovery. The company plans to onboard 1,000 users to Docufai by the end of Q3 2023 and release paid tiers in 2024.
Despite previous controversy surrounding allegations of improper behavior within the company, Ripcord continues to attract funding and build partnerships with major organizations. The new funding round will help Ripcord further develop its technology and expand its customer base as it moves towards its goal of digitizing paper records at a large scale.
