Decagon, an AI-powered customer support startup, plans to announce the completion of its first public tender offer, which will allow its more than 300 employees to sell a portion of their vested shares at the company’s latest valuation of $4.5 billion.
The less-than-three-year-old company’s employee secondary is led by the same investors that backed a $250 million Series D in less than two months, including Coatue, Index, a16z, Definition, Forerunner, and Ribbit.
As competition for AI talent intensifies, young, fast-growing startups are increasingly realizing that one of the most effective ways to attract and retain top employees is to convert some of their stock into cash through these types of deals.
Other AI startups that have recently made employee tender offers include: Eleven Lab, Linear, Clay. 2 projects implemented in 9 months.
These startups are able to provide liquidity to their employees primarily because investors want to increase their ownership stake in these fast-growing companies.
“We had the opportunity to summarize recent investment demand and growth milestones and reward our team’s efforts,” Decagon CEO and co-founder Jesse Chan told TechCrunch.
Decagon hasn’t disclosed revenue numbers since late 2024, when annual recurring revenue (ARR) exceeded eight digits, but its rapidly rising valuation suggests the company’s growth remains on a steep trajectory. The company’s current valuation is $4.5 billion, triple the $1.5 billion it announced in June.
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Decagon is building an AI “concierge” agent for large enterprises that autonomously resolves customer inquiries using chat, email, and voice modes. The startup’s 100+ large customers include Avis Budget Group, 1-800-Fflowers, Quince, Oura Health, and Away Travel.
Many other companies, including Sierra, Intercom, and Parloa, are also developing AI agents to automate tasks traditionally performed by human customer support agents, and the market opportunity is huge. Gartner estimates that there are 17 million contact center agents worldwide, a global workforce that companies are currently looking to automate.
