Latest news with #JesseZhang
Yahoo
18-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'AI Agents Can Be 10x Employees'—AI Customer Support Chatbot Startup Founded Two Years Ago Seeks $100 Million At A $1.5 Billion Valuation
Decagon, a two-year-old AI startup helping companies cut customer support costs, is in talks to raise $100 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, according to Forbes, which cites multiple sources familiar with the deal. Founded in 2023 by Jesse Zhang and Ashwin Sreenivas, Decagon builds customer support agents powered by artificial intelligence. These agents can handle common service tasks like issuing refunds, canceling subscriptions and answering product questions. Companies including Notion, Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL), Bilt, Substack and Rippling already use the software. 'We think AI agents can be 10x employees,' Zhang told Forbes. Don't Miss: Hasbro, MGM, and Skechers trust this AI marketing firm — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Decagon's rise has been driven by its performance in what insiders call "bake-offs," where companies test AI tools head-to-head. 'Decagon claims they win almost every time they go up against Sierra head to head,' one investor involved in the talks told Forbes. Sierra is a newer rival that is led by former Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) co-CEO Bret Taylor. Startups are turning to these agents to handle tedious tasks that would otherwise require large outsourced teams. Forbes reported that Bilt, for example, reduced its customer support team from hundreds of contractors to just 65 after adopting Decagon. Another unnamed client reportedly cut 80% of its support staff. ClassPass, which uses Decagon to manage more than 2.5 million customer conversations, slashed its cost per reservation by 95%, according to The Information. The potential new funding round is being led by Andreessen Horowitz and Accel, with participation from existing backers. It would bring Decagon's total funding to $200 million, following a $65 million Series B round announced in October that valued the company at $650 million. Trending: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — The company's AI agents run on top of large language models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Cohere, and are fine-tuned using company-specific data like user manuals, how-to guides and historical customer service chats. A proprietary system helps companies keep this training data fresh and relevant. A key selling point, according to investors, is that Decagon gives businesses clear control over how its AI responds to customers. 'You as a customer can actually see what's happening, understand it, and change things,' investor Elad Gil told Forbes. 'You have control so that it really does the things that you want it to do.' Decagon has also started partnering with ElevenLabs to build voice-enabled agents that sound more human, pushing beyond typed chat Decagon has earned praise for its performance and transparency, it faces stiff competition. Salesforce recently launched Agentforce 2dx, a major update to its AI platform that allows agents to work behind the scenes, not just in chat windows. The update includes low-code and pro-code tools for building agents, real-time monitoring, and a developer edition for testing. 'We're making it easier than ever for businesses to embed agentic AI into any workflow,' Adam Evans, Salesforce's EVP and GM of AI Platform, said in a statement. Salesforce also introduced AgentExchange, a marketplace that allows developers and partners to monetize prebuilt AI actions, templates and solutions. Read Next:Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – UNLOCKED: 5 NEW TRADES EVERY WEEK. Click now to get top trade ideas daily, plus unlimited access to cutting-edge tools and strategies to gain an edge in the markets. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? SALESFORCE (CRM): Free Stock Analysis Report This article 'AI Agents Can Be 10x Employees'—AI Customer Support Chatbot Startup Founded Two Years Ago Seeks $100 Million At A $1.5 Billion Valuation originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Forbes
02-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
AI Startup Decagon In Talks To Raise $100 Million At A $1.5 Billion Valuation
CEO Jesse Zhang (left) and CTO Ashwin Sreenivas (right) competed in science and math Olympiad competitions growing up. Now Decagon is in talks to raise $100 million in funding at a $1.5 billion valuation. AI startup Decagon, which is building customer service-focused agents, is in talks to raise $100 million in fresh funding at a $1.5 billion valuation, according to five sources familiar with the deal. Andreessen Horowitz and Accel are leading the round, with participation from existing investors, according to four of the people. The company has more than $10 million in signed contracts (often denoted using the term annual recurring revenue), according to two sources. Decagon confirmed it has been in talks to raise additional funding, but said the round hasn't been closed yet and the figures could change. Andreessen Horowitz and Accel did not immediately respond to comment requests. Decagon is building customer support chatbots and agents— software that can autonomously perform basic tasks— for things like answering questions on how a product works, processing refunds and canceling subscriptions. Companies like Notion, Bilt, Duolingo, Substack and Rippling use Decagon customer support chatbots. The latest investment comes less than a year after Decagon raised a $65 million Series B round led by Bain Capital Ventures at a $650 million valuation, Forbes reported in October. The new investment would bring Decagon's total funding to $200 million. The company, which was featured on the Forbes AI 50 list, was cofounded by 27-year-old CEO Jesse Zhang and Ashwin Sreenivas in 2023 after the duo surveyed dozens of companies to find the problem that could best be solved with AI. Customer support, a tedious but pivotal part of any business, has long been targeted for automation as a means to save millions in labor costs by eliminating largely outsourced customer support teams. Credit card provider Bilt downsized its customer support team from hundreds to 65 with Decagon, Forbes reported last year. And fitness giant ClassPass, which uses Decagon's AI agents to carry out 2.5 million conversations with its customers, has reduced its customer support costs by 95%, according to The Information. 'We think AI agents can be 10x employees,' Zhang told Forbes in March. Under the hood, Decagon's agents are built on the most advanced models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Cohere, and trained on internal data like how-to blogs, manuals and past customer service conversations. Staff rate and review responses generated by the AI to improve it. In February, Decagon partnered with audio generation startup ElevenLabs to create voice agents to have more natural, human-like conversations with customers. Customer service software is a competitive market and Decagon is up against companies like $4.5 billion-valued Sierra, helmed by former Salesforce co-CEO and OpenAI board Chairman Bret Taylor, and Salesforce, which has its own AI agents for customer support. The products themselves are also increasingly identical to each other and businesses regularly do what are called bake offs to pit one AI tool against another to see how well they perform on the job. 'Decagon claims they win almost every time they go up against Sierra head to head,' said one investor involved in the talks. 'Ultimately, they are both going to have exactly the same product and it will really be a race to see who can solve a higher percentage of the support calls with the best accuracy.' MORE FROM FORBES
