AI research startup Listen Labs scrubbed a $1.5B funding round for Salesforce talks

Listen Labs, an AI research startup specializing in voice AI for customer interviews, had a term sheet for a $125 million Series C round at a $1.5 billion valuation, led by Menlo Ventures, fail to close. This is an uncommon occurrence in the venture world, usually frowned upon by venture capitalists (VCs). The financing likely fell through due to ongoing acquisition talks with Salesforce, a CRM giant that reportedly wants to purchase Listen Labs for approximately $2 billion, per Business Insider.

Although these discussions are still pending, a deal may not materialize. Listen Labs, a three-year-old startup, generates about $30 million in annualized revenue, roughly three times that of its competitor Simile, which recently secured a $200 million Series B at a $2 billion valuation led by Greenoaks. If the Salesforce deal falls through, VCs anticipate Listen Labs will return to the market, aiming for a valuation of $2 billion or higher.

While purchasing Listen Labs could enhance Salesforce's AI capabilities by leveraging its technology to anticipate customer needs, Salesforce might deem the $67 times revenue multiple too high. Listen Labs was co-founded in 2023 by Florian Jüngermann, a former German competitive computer programming champion, and Alfred Wahlforss, who previously co-founded staffing startup Bemlo.

The duo met during their master's degrees at Harvard. Utilizing AI, Listen Labs develops survey questions and conducts customer interviews through audio or video, transforming the data into reports and PowerPoint presentations akin to those produced by human market researchers. Fortune 500 companies leverage this technology to understand customer needs and satisfaction rapidly.

Competitors to Listen Labs in this space include Outset, Keplar, and Aaru, with some automating interviews with real humans and others, like Aaru and Simile, employing a synthetic approach by using AI to predict responses without actual human interviews.