Listen Labs, a voice AI market research startup, scrubbed a $1.5 billion funding round after acquisition talks with Salesforce, according to multiple sources. The startup had signed a term sheet for a $125 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation, but the deal collapsed due to ongoing discussions with Salesforce.
The financing likely collapsed because of acquisition talks with Salesforce, which has recently held talks to buy Listen Labs for around $2 billion, Business Insider reported. The discussions are not finalized, however, and may not result in a deal, the outlet notes.
Listen Labs is one of the leading startups in the rapidly growing field of automating customer research with AI. The three-year-old startup has about $30 million in annualized revenue, about three times more than Simile, a competing startup that predicts human behavior, according to two people familiar with the companies’ financials.
"If talks with Salesforce collapse, several VCs told TechCrunch that they expect Listen Labs to return to market and target a valuation of $2 billion or higher," said a person with experience negotiating exits to Salesforce. The CRM giant may ultimately decide that paying a 67 times revenue multiple is too steep a valuation, according to the same person.
Listen Labs, Salesforce, Menlo Ventures, and Simile did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Listen Labs was co-founded in 2023 by Florian Jüngermann, a former German national champion in competitive computer programming, and Alfred Wahlforss, who previously founded a staffing startup called Bemlo.
Source: techcrunch
