NEWS

CPP Investments Downloads Capital into Fast-Growing Startup

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.