German automation software provider n8n GmbH today announced that it has closed a $180 million investment at a $2.5 billion valuation.

Accel led the C round, which comes six months after the company’s previous raise. It was joined by Nvidia Corp.’s NVentures startup fund, Meritech, Redpoint and several other backers. The cash infusion follows a year in which n8n claims to have seen its revenue grow tenfold, off an undisclosed base.

Founded in 2019, n8n develops an eponymous open-source platform for creating automation workflows. Cybersecurity teams can use the software to automatically enrich breach alerts with threat intelligence from external sources. A developer, meanwhile, could create a workflow that generates code based on natural language instructions.

Users write n8n workflows in TypeScript, an enhanced version of JavaScript developed by Microsoft Corp. TypeScript includes syntax modifications that make it easier to avoid certain types of software errors. For nontechnical users, n8n provides a visual interface that makes it possible to create automation workflows with drag-and-drop controls.

Workers can optionally integrate artificial intelligence agents into their n8n workflows. The platform supports LangChain, an open-source toolkit that automates some of the work involved in creating AI agents. The toolkit makes it easier to give AI agents access to external data sources and change the model they use to process prompts.

Users have access to several hundred prepackaged automation workflows that remove the need to create everything from scratch. Additionally, n8n provides integrations that enable those workflows to interact with third-party applications.

The company generates revenue through several paid versions of its open-source platform that offer additional features. One of those features makes it easier to secure the login credentials with which automation workflows access external systems. Another paid capability can stream n8n logs to third-party analytics tools.

One of n8n’s paid offerings, a cloud-based version of its platform, also includes a tool called the n8n AI Assistant. It helps developers fix faulty automation workflows and explain code written by colleagues. Tech firms, meanwhile, have access to an offering called n8n Embed that makes it possible to integrate n8n into software products.

“We’ve been building n8n since 2019, first as an automation tool, then as a platform for AI orchestration and cross-team collaboration,” founder and Chief Executive Officer Jan Oberhauser wrote in a blog post.

The company will use its new funding to hire more workers and enhance its platform. The development effort will place an emphasis on building features that make n8n more accessible for new users. In addition, the company plans to expand the collection of integrations that n8n workflows use to interact with third-party applications. 

Image: n8n