Listen Labs walked away from a signed funding term sheet led by Menlo Ventures. The startup uses voice AI to run customer interviews and package the results into reports. The round was set to value it at $1.5 billion but never closed. Salesforce has held talks to buy the company for around $2 billion. Those discussions are unfinished and may not lead to a deal. Venture investors say abandoning a signed term sheet is rare and poorly regarded. Some question whether Salesforce will pay 67 times revenue. Investors expect Listen Labs to seek $2 billion or more if talks fail. Its customers include Microsoft, Canva, Anthropic and Sweetgreen. The account comes from people familiar with the matter, with the acquisition talks first reported by Business Insider.
What changed
Listen Labs was valued at $500 million in a $69 million Series B in late January.
- $125M Series C at $1.5B valuation
- ~$2B Salesforce acquisition talks
- ~$30M annualized revenue
- 67x revenue multiple
Sources