🏆 Deal of the Week · CW 20/2024
PolyAI raised USD 50 million in a Series C round in May 2024; the post-money valuation was not disclosed. The round was backed by a syndicate of eight investors including Khosla Ventures, Hedosophia, and Zendesk, with no single lead investor publicly designated.
PolyAI — key deal facts
| Company | PolyAI |
| Founded | 2017 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Amount raised | USD 50M |
| Valuation | Valuation Remains Undisclosed |
| Round | Series C |
| Investors | Zendesk, Sands Capital Ventures, Passion Capital, Point72 Ventures, NVentures, Khosla Ventures, Hedosophia, Georgian |
| Sectors | Artificial Intelligence (AI) |
Who invested in PolyAI?
The Series C drew participation from Zendesk, Sands Capital Ventures, Passion Capital, Point72 Ventures, NVentures (NVIDIA's venture arm), Khosla Ventures, Hedosophia, and Georgian. The investor mix is notable for combining enterprise-software strategics — Zendesk and NVentures — with established technology-growth funds, signalling both commercial validation and conviction in the underlying AI infrastructure. Passion Capital's continued involvement reflects early-stage confidence maintained through to growth stage.
What does PolyAI do?
PolyAI was founded in 2017 by Nikola Mrkšić, Tsung-Hsien Wen, and Pei-Hao Su, all former researchers at Cambridge University's Dialogue Systems Group. The company builds enterprise-grade conversational AI voice assistants designed to handle high-volume customer service interactions with a human-like experience. Its core product is a full-stack Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) platform, powered by PolyAI's proprietary Raven model, and is deployed primarily in sectors such as hospitality, retail, and financial services. PolyAI is incorporated in London, England, and maintains additional offices in San Francisco, New York, and Belgrade.
PolyAI valuation & multiples
No existing multiples analysis was provided for this deal. Once comparable EV/Sales and EV/EBITDA ranges for the enterprise conversational AI sector are established, they will be presented here. Readers seeking current valuation benchmarks for AI and SaaS companies are invited to explore the relevant sector multiples pages on DealMatrix.
Explore the benchmarks: Series C.
Frequently asked questions
How much did PolyAI raise in its Series C?
PolyAI raised USD 50 million in its Series C round, which closed in May 2024.
What is PolyAI's valuation?
PolyAI's post-money valuation following the Series C round has not been publicly disclosed.
Who invested in PolyAI?
The Series C investors include Zendesk, Sands Capital Ventures, Passion Capital, Point72 Ventures, NVentures, Khosla Ventures, Hedosophia, and Georgian.
When was PolyAI founded and where is it based?
PolyAI was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in London, United Kingdom.
Source: original announcement — read the full report.