Pigment's meteoric rise is rewriting the rules for business planning, with its AI-native platform set to revolutionise the way major corporations like Unilever and Siemens approach financial planning and performance management. The Paris-headquartered firm is racing towards £75 million in annual recurring revenue, doubling its income for the third consecutive year – a staggering achievement that's got industry insiders taking notice.
The driving force behind this explosive growth? Eléonore Crespo, Pigment's co-founder and chief executive, attributes it to an insatiable demand for agile business planning solutions in an era of macroeconomic uncertainty. Her team has seen a 115% year-on-year surge in customers switching from legacy vendors – a trend she believes is only set to continue.
Pigment's AI platform aggregates business data and enables teams to model complex scenarios across finance, sales, and HR functions, all through intuitive everyday language. Its latest innovation, the Modeller Agent, allows users to describe a planning model in plain English and receive a ready-to-use output – cutting development time by a significant margin.
Early adopters have reported substantial time savings, with some creating complex models in minutes that previously took hours. As Pigment's valuation hits over £800 million, investors are taking note of the company's impressive trajectory – raising nearly £320 million to date.
But what's driving this growth? London has emerged as Pigment's fastest-growing market, thanks to a surge in capital investment and talent pool. The city's AI ecosystem has seen a significant boost, with Dealroom data revealing that AI investment almost doubled to £5.5 billion last year – placing London firmly as the fourth-largest tech hub globally.
The London tech scene is booming, with 12 new 'unicorn' companies valued at over £800 million emerging in just the first quarter alone. Major players like Anthropic and OpenAI are also setting up shop or expanding their presence in the UK – making it an attractive destination for AI innovation.
Pigment is actively expanding its UK teams, targeting key sectors including financial services, retail, telecoms, life sciences, and media. The shift towards AI-native planning tools reflects a broader trend among UK businesses seeking to stay ahead of the curve in a volatile global economy – where adaptability and resilience are crucial for maintaining competitiveness.