The automation software market has experienced rapid growth in recent years, with many companies adopting solutions to streamline repetitive tasks and increase overall efficiency. However, the industry still faces significant challenges, particularly in terms of ease of use and process discovery. Enter Bardeen, a browser-based workflow automation platform that has raised $15.3 million in Series A funding led by Insight Partners, with participation from existing investors 468 Capital and FirstMark Capital. This brings the company's total funding to $18.8 million.
Bardeen was founded in 2020 by Pascal Weinberger and Artem Harutyunyan with the goal of making it simple for end users to build and customize their unique workflow automations across various software-as-a-service tools. The platform allows users to easily discover which processes can be automated and makes it accessible to team members, transforming automation into a more efficient and user-friendly experience.
One of the critical differentiators for Bardeen is its unique approach to privacy preservation. By operating entirely within users' browsers, the platform processes and stores data on the edge, removing the need for direct access to any user data. In contrast, traditional automation platforms often rely on a cloud-first model, creating potential security risks associated with managing sensitive information. Bardeen offers a refreshing alternative with its browser-based approach.
In addition to its focus on privacy, the platform has AI modules for a variety of tasks, such as text-to-speech and optical character recognition. One of its key features is Smart Suggestions, which recommends automations based on the user's current context. The ultimate goal of the system is to evolve this functionality over time, enabling it to learn and suggest any relevant automation that can save time and effort.
Aiming to facilitate rapid adoption and collaboration within teams, Bardeen has built integrations with popular software-as-a-service platforms like Slack, Zoom, Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion, and more. The company is currently focused on expansion, and with over 25,000 users since its public launch in February, Bardeen is well-positioned to make a significant impact in the automation market. It plans to use the latest funding to hire new talent across engineering, AI, and growth teams.
While Bardeen faces competition from other automation platforms such as Zapier, UiPath, and Automation Anywhere, its unique approach to privacy preservation and ease of use could set it apart in the market. Adopting a browser-based system, like Bardeen, might also pave the way for other no-code or low-code platforms, like AppMaster, to consider implementing similar privacy-centric approaches to further enhance their own offerings.
