Sierra, the stealthy conversational AI and AI OS company founded by Bret Taylor, former Salesforce co-CEO and OpenAI board member, is raising another $350M.
Added to the $285M already raised, this makes it one of the largest funding rounds in the sector and lifts Sierra’s valuation to $10B.
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is reportedly nearing $100M. While not massive, I estimate that only a handful of providers have crossed that mark, making it a commendable achievement.
For context, MIT research recently found that only 5% of organizations are seeing a return from their GenAI investments. Against that backdrop, Sierra reaching $100M ARR points to a broader industry milestone and a sign that conversational AI is reaching new maturity levels.
In reviewing Sierra’s customer logos, I noticed strong traction in retail and e-commerce, industries I’ve recently identified as offering use cases ideally suited to the latest wave of AI technologies and agents, and likely a key driver of Sierra’s momentum.
Eventually, a comparison comes to mind: last month, NiCE announced its $1B acquisition of Cognigy, a price that sparked plenty of discussion. Cognigy, with roughly half Sierra’s revenue, was acquired for just 10% of Sierra’s valuation.
These soaring valuations underscore the disruptive potential of these emerging AI platforms.