Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins double Profound's valuation to $1.8bn seven months after Lightspeed's round
The $180m Series D sells roughly the same tenth of the company that $96m bought in February, and the performance figure behind the new price is revenue tripling in six months. Profound counts more than 1,000 enterprise brands.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- Profound raised $180m in a Series D at a $1.8bn valuation, co-led by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, and dated September 15, 2026.
- The round lands seven months after a $96m Series C led by Lightspeed priced the two-year-old company at $1bn, and total funding since 2024 now exceeds $335m.
- Profound says it serves more than 1,000 enterprise brands, including a third of the Fortune 100, and The SaaS News reports revenue tripled in the past six months.
- The New York company is using the capital to open an applied-AI research operation in San Francisco studying how frontier models handle marketing work.
Why it matters
- Who has to decide decision Selling roughly the same tenth of the company twice keeps the founders' position intact, and moves the hard pricing question to the Series E, where $1.8bn becomes the floor the next investor has to clear.
- What it limits constraint Ads Studio spends through OpenAI, Google and Meta ad managers, so the paid half of the business can only grow as fast as those three open campaign inventory to outside tools.
- What it sets up precedent A $1.8bn private mark becomes the reference price for the category, and Bluefish and Peec AI now recruit and negotiate against a competitor with several times their cash.
- Who's exposed exposure Enterprises now buying visibility programmes built on assistant-answer data are exposed to any change the model vendors make in how those answers name brands.
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Set the two rounds beside each other, reading both valuations as post-money. February's $96m at $1bn is 9.6 percent of the company; September's $180m at $1.8bn is 10 percent [20]. The share sold barely moved while the check nearly doubled, the extra $84m arriving seven months later [21]. Between the two prices the mark rose $800m, about $114m a month [22].
One performance figure is attached to the round. Revenue tripled in the past six months, according to The SaaS News, which also reported that the announcement did not detail how the capital will be spent [7][8]. Profound did not disclose the revenue base. At $1.8bn, 100 times revenue implies about $18m and 50 times implies about $36m [24].
The customer count is firmer. TechFundingNews reports more than 1,000 enterprise brands, including a third of the Fortune 100, which is roughly 33 of those accounts [6][19]. Divide the new valuation by the logos and the round pays under $1.8m per existing enterprise brand [23]. Total funding since 2024 is above $335m [4], so something like $59m came in before the Series C [26].
Berlin's Peec AI raised a $21m Series A in November 2025, has raised about $29m in total, and prices for agencies rather than enterprises [17]. Bluefish raised a $43m Series B in April, $68m in total, and chases the same Fortune 500 accounts [18]. Profound's single round is about 6.2 times Peec AI's lifetime total and about 2.6 times Bluefish's [25].
Both ends of the product sit inside other companies' systems. The measurement side draws on more than two billion real user prompts to track how ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity mention a brand and against which competitors [12]. The new Ads Studio launches paid AI Search campaigns directly into OpenAI's, Google's and Meta's ad managers [13]. "As AI becomes a primary interface for search and discovery, marketing is being rebuilt around a new set of workflows," said Ilya Fushman, a partner at Kleiner Perkins [15].
Renewals will settle whether the $1.8bn holds. If a thousand enterprises treat visibility inside assistant answers as a standing line item, tripling revenue again makes this an ordinary growth round and the $335m buys sales coverage neither rival can fund. Two developments would argue the other way: OpenAI or Google reporting brand visibility inside their own ad managers, which would make the analytics half a free feature, and Peec AI's cheaper agency pricing pulling the measurement business down to a commodity [17]. Chief executive James Cadwallader said customers had shown Profound how much more marketing teams can take on when they have purpose-built AI helping them with their work. [14]
What to watch
- Whether OpenAI or Google add brand-visibility reporting inside their own ad managers, which would make the measurement half a free feature.
- The next raises from Bluefish and Peec AI, and the marks they carry against Profound's $1.8bn.
- Any disclosed revenue or net-retention figure that puts an actual multiple on the $1.8bn.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
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- [1]
Profound raised $180 million in Series D funding at a $1.8 billion valuation.
- [2]
Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins co-led Profound's Series D round.
- [3]
The Series D comes seven months after a $96 million Series C at a $1 billion valuation, led by Lightspeed in February.
- [4]
The round brings Profound's total funding to more than $335 million since 2024.
- [5]
Lightspeed Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Saga Ventures, Evantic and South Park Commons all returned in the Series D.
- [6]
Profound now serves more than 1,000 enterprise brands, including a third of the Fortune 100.
- [7]
Profound's revenue tripled in the past six months, supporting its base of over 1,000 enterprise customers.
- [8]
Specific granular details regarding the deployment of capital were not disclosed in the announcement.
- [9]
Profound was founded in 2024 by James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs, who met at the startup incubator South Park Commons.
- [10]
The New York company is opening an applied-AI research operation in San Francisco with the new capital, to study how well frontier models handle marketing work.
- [11]
The funding date of the $180M Series D is given as September 15, 2026.
- [12]
The product started as an analytics dashboard tracking how often ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity mention a brand, in what context and against which competitors, drawing on more than two billion real user prompts.
- [13]
AI Marketer scans a brand's own data, flags where it is losing visibility, and deploys sub-agents to draft content and run research; through a new Ads Studio it launches paid AI Search campaigns directly into OpenAI's, Google's and Meta's ad managers.
- [14]
"Our customers have shown us how much more marketing teams can take on when they have purpose-built AI to help them do the work," said Cadwallader, Profound's co-founder and chief executive.
- [15]
"As AI becomes a primary interface for search and discovery, marketing is being rebuilt around a new set of workflows," said Ilya Fushman, Partner at Kleiner Perkins.
- [16]
"This feels like a cheat code. We can launch creative in minutes. A must for AI Search ads," said William Yen, Head of Strategic Growth Initiatives at Ramp.
- [17]
Berlin's Peec AI raised a $21 million Series A in November 2025, taking its total to roughly $29 million, and has leaned into accessible pricing for agencies rather than the enterprise.
- [18]
Bluefish raised a $43 million Series B in April, bringing its total to $68 million, and competes more directly for the same Fortune 500 accounts.
- [19]
A third of the Fortune 100 is roughly 33 accounts.
- [20]
Read as post-money, the $96m Series C bought 9.6 percent of Profound at $1bn and the $180m Series D buys 10 percent at $1.8bn.
- [21]
The Series D check is $84m larger than the Series C check.
- [22]
The valuation rose $800m in seven months, about $114m a month.
- [23]
At $1.8bn across more than 1,000 enterprise brands, the valuation is under $1.8m per enterprise brand.
- [24]
A $1.8bn valuation implies about $18m of revenue at 100 times revenue and about $36m at 50 times.
- [25]
Profound's $180m Series D is about 6.2 times Peec AI's roughly $29m lifetime total and about 2.6 times Bluefish's $68m total.
- [26]
Roughly $59m of Profound's funding predates the Series C.
Sources
2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- techfundingnews.comProfound hits $1.8B valuation with $180M raise led by Sequoia Capital to help brands rank in AI search
1 article · September 16, 2026
- thesaasnews.comProfound Raises $180M Series D
1 article · September 16, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- AI marketing agents
- Answer engine optimization
- Venture Funding Rounds