Listen Labs abandons $125 million round amid talks with Salesforce — TechCrunch
Startup Listen Labs, which uses voice artificial intelligence for customer interviews, has abandoned an agreed $125 million Series C funding round at a $1.5 billion valuation. Menlo Ventures was set to lead the investment round, but the deal was never closed, TechCrunch reports, citing several informed sources.
According to the publication’s sources, Listen Labs itself withdrew from the signed term sheet. Venture investors noted that such cases are rare in the venture capital market and are generally not viewed favorably.
Sale talks
The likely reason for the collapsed funding round was talks over Salesforce’s acquisition of Listen Labs. Business Insider reported that the CRM company was discussing buying the startup for about $2 billion. At the same time, the talks are not complete and may not result in a deal.
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If an agreement with Salesforce falls through, several venture investors told TechCrunch that Listen Labs could return to the funding market with a target valuation of at least $2 billion. One source with experience in negotiations over Salesforce’s acquisition of companies said that a roughly 67-times annual revenue multiple could prove too high for the buyer.
AI research market
Listen Labs was founded in 2023 by Florian Jungermann and Alfred Wahlforss, who met while studying for their master’s degrees at Harvard. The startup’s system generates questions for surveys, conducts audio or video interviews, and turns conversations into reports and presentations. The company’s clients include Microsoft, Canva, Anthropic, and Sweetgreen.
According to two sources familiar with the companies’ financial performance, Listen Labs’ annualized revenue is about $30 million. At the end of January, the startup announced a $69 million Series B round at a $500 million valuation; it was led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Sequoia, Conviction, and Pear VC. Listen Labs, Salesforce, Menlo Ventures, and Simile did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
