Profound hits $1.8B valuation with $180M Series D, betting brands will pay to be seen by AI
创业邦 · wechat · 2026-09-16
AI marketing platform Profound raised a $180M Series D at a $1.8B valuation, led by Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins just 7 months after its Series C. Sequoia has now invested in three consecutive rounds.
Product logic: As users ask ChatGPT/Gemini instead of searching Google, brands need to know whether AI mentions them. Profound started with monitoring brand mentions, citation sources and competitor share in AI answers, then launched Prompt Volumes, AI Marketer (generating marketing briefs and content drafts) and Ads Studio, moving from a GEO tool toward a full marketing execution platform.
Traction: Revenue tripled in six months; over 1,000 enterprise clients including about a third of the Fortune 100. Fintech Aleph saw 5x AI visibility gains and 253% citation share growth in two months. Estée Lauder signed a global partnership. Rivals include Adobe-owned Semrush (Brand Visibility), Ahrefs (Brand Radar, covering 456M prompts), and AI-native players like Peec and AthenaHQ; Chinese player Zhitui Shidai has raised two rounds serving 400+ brands.
Related event: Profound Raises $180M Series D at $1.8B Valuation, Led by Sequoia and KP(10 posts)→
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