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Jan 15 (Reuters) – German startup Parloa has raised $350 million in a late-stage round that tripled the valuation of the artificial intelligence-driven customer \u200bservice platform to $3 billion in less than a year.<\/p>\n
The Series D \u200cround, announced on Thursday, was led by General Catalyst and joined by existing investors such as \u200cEQT Ventures, Altimeter Capital and Durable Capital Partners.<\/p>\n
It takes the startup’s total fundraise to more than $560 million, including a $120 million Series C in July 2025 where it was valued at $1 billion.<\/p>\n
The eight-year-old firm is among the startups developing an AI \u2060platform that can automate customer \u200cservice for large enterprises with little to no coding, including tasks such as tracking packages and processing returns.<\/p>\n
Parloa said its \u200dcustomers include Microsoft, Accenture, KPMG and Booking.com, and its annual recurring revenue has surpassed $50 million.<\/p>\n
“In 2025, everyone finally realized \u2026 it (AI for customer service) is actually working, like this is \u200ba case that has proven to be a positive return on investment \u200ccase,” co-founder and CEO Malte Kosub said in an interview.<\/p>\n
Businesses looking to cut costs and deal with rising customer queries have been turning to AI-powered voice agents to handle customer service, driving demand and investor interest in startups developing the technology.<\/p>\n
However, the roll-out has not always been smooth. Swedish buy-now, pay-later \u2060Klarna said last year it might have \u200bgone too far in using the technology, having \u200bcut thousands of jobs, dropped some vendors and turned to AI to create marketing campaigns.<\/p>\n
Parloa plans to use the fresh funds \u200dto expand in Europe \u2060and the U.S., including opening new offices in San Francisco and Madrid. It already has a presence in Berlin and New York.<\/p>\n
The company \u2060also plans to increase its headcount to 600 from 380 by the end of 2026, with \u200chiring focused both on developers and sales staff.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Aditya \u200cSoni in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n