AI research startup Listen Labs scrubbed a $1.5B funding round for Salesforce talks — SkimNews
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- Listen Labs signed a $125M Series C term sheet at a $1.5 billion valuation led by Menlo Ventures, then walked away — a rare move that multiple VCs said is generally frowned upon in venture capital.
- Salesforce has held acquisition talks to buy Listen Labs for around $2 billion, though the discussions are not finalized and may not result in a deal, according to Business Insider.
- Simile, a competing AI research startup that predicts human behavior, closed a $200M Series B at a $2 billion valuation in late July led by Greenoaks — likely setting a new valuation benchmark for Listen Labs, per one source.
- Listen Labs generates approximately $30 million in annualized revenue, roughly three times more than Simile, according to two people familiar with both companies' financials.
- If Salesforce talks collapse, several VCs told TechCrunch they expect Listen Labs to return to market targeting a $2 billion or higher valuation.
- A person with experience negotiating exits to Salesforce said the CRM giant may balk at paying a 67x revenue multiple — $2 billion against Listen Labs' ~$30M annualized revenue.
- Listen Labs uses voice AI to conduct customer interviews and package them into reports and PowerPoints; customers include Microsoft, Canva, Anthropic, and Sweetgreen, and the startup was previously valued at $500M when Ribbit Capital led its $69M Series B in January.
Why it matters: If Salesforce closes a $2 billion deal at a 67x revenue multiple, it would rank among the largest AI-customer-research acquisitions to date, while Menlo Ventures loses its lead Series C slot. If talks collapse, Listen Labs would likely return to market at $2 billion or higher — anchored by Simile's $2B July valuation — effectively resetting pricing for the AI customer-research category.
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