Profound raises $96M at $1B valuation to track how AI talks about brands
What's the deal? Profound, a New York-based startup that tracks how AI systems talk about brands, has raised $96 million in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, with Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins,Saga VCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, South Park Commons, and EvanticDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → participating.
The 18-month-old company has raised over $155 million total. It serves more than 700 enterprise customers, including over 10% of the Fortune 500 — brands like TargetDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, WalmartDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Figma, MongoDB, and U.S. BankDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Profound monitors how AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini describe, recommend, and rank brands. Alongside the funding, it launched Profound Agents — autonomous AI workers that execute marketing tasks on brands' behalf.
Why now? Consumer discovery is shifting from traditional search to AI assistants. When users ask ChatGPT for product recommendations instead of Googling, brands need to know what those systems say about them.
"AI Search is the biggest platform shift in the history of marketing," said James Cadwallader,Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →Profound's chief executive officer.
What could go wrong? The company is young and its product still evolving. Profound Agents launched alongside this funding and haven't been tested at scale.
The broader AI landscape is shifting. ChatGPT recently started showing ads, and Perplexity has its own advertising programme in testing. Paid placements could narrow the organic window for AI visibility.
The signal: Three of Silicon Valley's most selective VCs are betting that AI visibility is essential for enterprises. As more consumers bypass Google for AI assistants, brands that can't control how those systems describe them risk losing customers to those that can.
"They are building the marketing platform for the future of discovery," said Sachin Patel, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Sources:
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