Latest news with #SarahWang
Business Wire
23-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Decagon Raises $131M at $1.5B Valuation to Deliver Concierge Customer Experience with AI Agents
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Decagon, the leader in conversational AI agents for customer experience, today announced $131 million in s eries C funding, pushing its total funding to $231 million just one year after emerging from stealth. The round valued the company at $1.5 billion and drew 5x more investor demand than capacity, underscoring Decagon's momentum and market leadership. The round is co-led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz (Growth Fund), with participation from existing investors A*, Bain Capital Ventures, and BOND, and new investors Avra, Forerunner, and Ribbit Capital. 'We're at a defining moment for AI agents, with massive demand specifically in the customer experience sector,' said Sarah Wang, General Partner at a16z Growth. 'Decagon has the technical prowess, focus, and expertise to lead this market, and this latest round is a testament to that.' In an industry crowded with customer support solutions, Decagon stands apart with its product-driven approach: A gent Operating Procedures (AOPs). AOPs empower customer experience operators to design and adjust AI agent behavior in real time using natural language, while technical teams retain full control over the underlying code. This enables brands to rapidly deploy and continuously improve the AI agent experience with Decagon, while maintaining the structure and rigor of code under the surface. Businesses can go live in weeks — not months — without relying on costly professional services. They also gain real-time visibility into agent performance across every channel, allowing teams to quickly identify issues, experiment safely, and continuously improve the end-user experience. As a result, Decagon's AI agents empower leading brands like Hertz, Eventbrite, Duolingo, Oura, Bilt, and Notion to deliver intelligent, high-quality customer experience at scale. 'At Hertz, we're focused on leveraging technology that delivers a more seamless experience for our customers,' said Vikram Rajagopalan, Vice President of Customer Experience at Hertz. 'Our partnership with Decagon has taken us from idea to impact without sacrificing control, visibility, or enterprise standards. Its AI agents are flexible, reliable, and built for scale, which is enabling more personalized interactions and helping transform how we serve our customers." 'Decagon's relentless focus on customer outcomes and differentiated approach to human-agent collaboration make them a breakout leader in AI agents for customer experience,' said Ivan Zhou, Partner at Accel. 'They've become the trusted AI partner for leading enterprises like Hertz, and are accelerating the way every company engages their customers with AI." Decagon works across channels to meet customers where they are — whether that's chat, email, voice, or SMS. With a centralized intelligence layer at its core, Decagon lets companies define workflows, knowledge, and brand voice once and apply them across every channel. This unified approach enables Decagon to handle complex tasks like refunds, identity verification, and escalations with precision and consistency, regardless of a customer's preferred channel. 'We've always believed that success comes from matching execution with the right market,' said Jesse Zhang, Co-founder and CEO of Decagon. 'Brands see the massive opportunity AI agents bring to customer experience, and they want a partner who can help them capture that opportunity. This funding reflects the very real, growing demand for what Decagon delivers.' This latest funding round comes after a period of rapid growth for Decagon. Over the past year, the company grew from zero to eight figures in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and more than quadrupled its customer base. Today, Decagon's platform powers faster, smarter customer service for 10s of millions of end-users across global brands. In April, the company debuted on the Forbes AI 50 list. This fresh funding will fuel Decagon's push to scale its product and team in response to surging market demand. With customers already seeing outsized impact, the company is focused on accelerating innovation and seizing this market-defining moment. For more information, see here. About Decagon Decagon is the leading conversational AI platform empowering brands to deliver concierge customer experience with AI agents. Combining the power of natural language with the precision of code, Decagon's Agent Operating Procedures (AOPs) enable enterprises to build, optimize, and scale AI agents for secure, reliable, always-on customer service. Whether resolving issues or proactively helping customers discover greater value, Decagon builds meaningful connections between brands and customers that are authentic, intelligent, and truly satisfying—redefining what customer experience should be. For more information, visit
CBS News
26-03-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Massachusetts eighth-grader creates seizure detection device, earns national honor
A 14-year-old girl from Andover, Massachusetts turned a personal moment into a powerful invention that could bring peace of mind to those with epilepsy and their families. At first glance, Sarah Wang is just like any other eighth grader, busy with school, sports and friends at the Pike School in Andover. But behind the scenes, she's an inventor, working on something that could save lives. "I love academics, I love writing, I love science, I love history, I love everything," said Wang. "I would say I'm just someone who's curious and I really want, in the future, I want to innovate." It's that curiosity that changed everything and inspired her invention. "Two years ago, I was visiting my grandparents in China and my grandmother has epilepsy," said Wang. "I didn't know that before but she had a seizure and I didn't know what was happening, I was really shocked because she was unconscious." This moment turned into months of research, learning about epilepsy, seizure detection and why many products just don't work. "I found that a lot of these solutions for seizure detection, either they're too expensive, they're not adjustable, they're not comfortable," said Wang. "I think I could turn Hand Band into something greater." So Wang built Hand Band, a wearable device that detects seizure-related hand movements and alerts caregivers in real time. "The spring vibration sensor, first it can detect the rapid hand movements and then it turns the rapid hand movements into an electrical signal that we can continuously monitor," said Wang. Once that signal drops below a threshold, an alarm is sent via Bluetooth to an app, alerting the caregiver to the seizure. Now on her third version, Wang's improving accuracy, shrinking the size and even looking ahead to a patent. "Something I want to do is take this to the next level and to make this into an actual product," said Wang. Wang is going to have the chance to do just that. She was just in Washington, DC as a 2025 National STEM Champion. "I was shocked because I didn't know that this could go this far," said Wang. "I immediately told my family, I called my grandma and I'm just really grateful for this opportunity." Surrounded by more than 100 other National STEM champions , Wang said she left with even more drive to grow her project and her passion. "Seeing people integrate other types of STEM stuff, like chemistry and physics, biology, it's inspired me to try to learn more in different fields of science," said Wang. At the festival, Wang wasn't just showing off a device. She was sharing a mission, one that started with her grandmother and now inspires young innovators nationwide. "If you see a problem, if you see something happening, just think about what you can do to help the situation," said Wang.
