New Unicorn Fractal Bolsters Cloud Play with Neal Buy

Artificial intelligence firm Fractal Analytics is having a busy January so far. Early in the month it announced a $360 million investment from enterprise technology asset firm TPG, and on Tuesday the company reported acquiring cloud data engineering company Neal Analytics. 

Neal Analytics was founded in 2011 and is a Microsoft Gold Consulting Partner. This acquisition bolsters Fractal’s cloud engineering offerings through access to Microsoft’s multi-cloud ecosystems and Neal Analytics’ expertise with the Azure stack. Both companies boast a plethora of technology partnerships with companies like Intel, NVIDIA, Snowflake, and Databricks. 

Fractal’s mission is “to power every human decision in the enterprise,” with AI-powered data analytics solutions for their roster of Fortune 500 companies which includes AstraZeneca and Procter & Gamble. The company’s cloud engineering solutions incorporate leveraging cloud data warehouses and data lakes, revamping legacy data platforms and applications using “cloud-first” architecture, and adding public cloud capabilities. 

Fractal’s 16 worldwide locations include India, the United States, Australia, and Singapore. The company has over 3,500 employees. The $360 million TPG investment gave it unicorn status with a valuation of just over $1 billion. 

Regarding the acquisition, Dylan Dias, CEO, Neal Analytics, said, “This is the successful culmination of a thorough, year-long process. Our goals were to find the best long-term home for Neal’s 200+ employees, a platform to scale faster, and the ability to play a bigger role in this fast-accelerating space. Fractal was a clear choice. Our culture and vision are 100% aligned. This is an exciting opportunity to empower our people and work alongside like-minded practitioners to transform businesses with cloud, data, and AI. It will enable Neal Analytics and Fractal to grow and achieve more together.”

Fractal seems well-positioned as the enthusiasm for AI in enterprises is flourishing. According to Appen’s 2021 State of AI and Machine Learning Report, larger companies are increasing their AI budgets. Compared to 2020, 55% more companies had a budget of $500K to $5 million for AI solutions. The report mentions that process automation and customer experience enhancement are among the most common use cases for AI technologies.

Related Items:

Companies Going ‘All In’ on AI, Appen Study Says

Data Science and AI Predictions for 2022

The Data and AI Habits of Future-Ready Companies