Sales Software Startup Gong Reaches $2.2 Billion Valuation After Seeing Revenue Triple During The Pandemic

Gong was started in 2015 by CEO Amit Bendov (left) and chief product officer Eilon Reshef (right).GONG

One month ago, AI-powered sales startup Gong had no intention of raising more money. The company, which gives sales insights via artificial intelligence that scans salespeoples’ emails and calls, had yet to spend the $65 million it raised last December and business was booming during the pandemic with revenue tripling in the first half of 2020. With sales reaching some $20 million last year, that puts Gong on track for better than $50 million in revenue this year.

But as investors approached Gong, it raised $200 million, closing the deal in just two weeks. The San Francisco-based company has now raised a total of $334 million, setting itself up for a hoped-for initial public offering within the next three years. “People want to get in ahead of an IPO of the company,” says CEO Amit Bendov, who previously ran business intelligence startup SiSense. Coatue led the Series D funding that takes Gong’s valuation to $2.2 billion from $750 million after its previous round. Additional investors in the new funding include Index Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Thrive Capital and existing investors such as Sequoia and Battery.

Gong is a rising player in the sales software industry thanks to its use of natural language processing to analyze and take notes on all the conversations being had in emails, video conferences and phone calls. The software then crunches that data to provide insights such as analysis on which customers are ready to be pitched for a product update, which deals are at risk of being lost or what successful sales reps are doing to close deals. 

Read more: forbes