Listen Labs, a market research startup that uses voice AI to conduct automated customer interviews, recently signed a term sheet for a $125 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation led by Menlo Ventures — but then walked away from the deal, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.
The financing likely collapsed because of acquisition talks with Salesforce, which has recently held discussions to buy the company for approximately $2 billion, Business Insider reported. Those talks are not finalized and may not result in a deal.
Listen Labs is one of the leading startups in the rapidly growing field of automating customer research with AI. The three-year-old company generates roughly $30 million in annualized revenue, approximately three times more than competitor Simile. In July, Simile closed a $200 million Series B at a $2 billion valuation led by Greenoaks — likely setting a new benchmark for Listen Labs.
If Salesforce talks fall through, several venture capitalists told TechCrunch they expect Listen Labs to return to market targeting a valuation of $2 billion or higher. The CRM giant may ultimately decide that paying a 67x revenue multiple is too steep.
Listen Labs' technology develops survey questions and interviews customers over audio or video, then packages conversations into reports and presentations traditionally produced by human researchers. Customers include Microsoft, Canva, Anthropic, and Sweetgreen. The company was co-founded in 2023 by Florian Jüngermann, a former German national champion in competitive programming, and Alfred Wahlforss, who previously founded staffing startup Bemlo.
Competitors include Outset, Keplar, and Aaru — some automate interviews with real humans, while others like Aaru and Simile simulate human behavior synthetically without any real interviews. Listen Labs was previously valued at $500 million when it announced a $69 million Series B in January, led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Sequoia, Conviction, and Pear VC.
