Featured Article

WalkMe's IPO Confirms the Appetite for Guided CX Technology

Businesses have been accelerating digital transformations to enable self-service for their sales and service processes, particularly as the pandemic shuttered in-person interactions in sales, customer service, and support environments.  Guided Customer Experience (Guided CX) is a concept that seeks to bridge the gap between remote and in-person engagement through a mix of automated self-service tools and new innovations, like embedded video, that introduce live human support and guidance into every digital interaction.  As the Guided CX market continues to grow and mature, nascent providers are now on the precipice of attracting significant new investment, and in the case of WalkMe, actually going public.

WalkMe is a multi-national SaaS company that provides Guided CX technologies. It will be the first Guided CX tech provider to enter the public markets through an IPO on the Nasdaq—certainly a noteworthy achievement.

“WalkMe’s IPO will demonstrate the value of Guided CX innovations and the respect these solutions are receiving for the value they deliver to businesses,” said Heather Nightingale, executive director of the Guided CX Forum.  “The appetite for Guided CX is strong, and the IPO is a welcome activity that validates the entire sector.”

In general, IPOs are a proof point for a technology and set the scene for companies in that industry to attract significant investment dollars for delivering these innovations.  WalkMe, founded in 2011, claims to simplify the user experience through its Digital Adoption Platform (DAP), which anticipates user needs through artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automation technologies.  For businesses leveraging WalkMe, the result is a simplified online experience for their users.

The company’s platform features applications that enable teams to add guides and training manuals to their websites, and enable organizations to provide chatbots that act as a layer between the employee and various programs.  The company says it has over 2,000 customers and has raised over $300 million in total funding.

Investors expect public companies to have strong business processes, a long-term business plan, and consistent and predictable revenue.  WalkMe has demonstrated these attributes thus far, and its IPO is a testament to the market demand for Guided CX.  Consider that, in its prospectus, WalkMe stated a 41 percent increase in revenue for 2020 to $148.3 million.  In the first quarter of 2021, revenue rose 25 percent to $42.7 million year-over-year.  At WalkMe’s IPO, the company expects a $4 billion valuation and is looking to raise about $500 million.

Technology like what WalkMe deliver continues to be in high demand as companies manage the digital transformation process.  While companies are moving toward resuming some in-person services, they will still have to provide a digital experience for those who prefer the flexibility of remote options going forward.  Whether a company is completing a high-touch sale or helping remote workers engage with vendors and teams, Guided CX is proving to digitally transform many industries.

Companies that choose to go public become benchmarks used by investors as a comparison for other industry players.  WalkMe’s entrance into Wall Street demonstrates that there’s strong market demand for Guided CX and that investors recognize the growth potential for the industry. The success of the WalkMe IPO will not only provide additional market validation, but will also pave the way for other vendors within the Guided CX space to follow suit.  The IPO is a watershed moment for Guided CX providers as the industry moves forward to satisfy an ever-changing market need.

Edited by Erik Linask