Decagon completes first tender offer at $4.5B valuation

Decagon, an AI-powered customer support startup, is set to announce the completion of its first tender offer, allowing 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 being led by the same investors that backed its $250 million Series D less than two months ago, including Coatue, Index, a16z, Definition, Forerunner, and Ribbit.

As competition for AI talent is intensifying, fast-growing, young startups are increasingly finding that one of the most effective ways to attract and retain high-caliber employees is to allow them to convert some of their equity into cash through these types of transactions.

Other AI startups that have recently held employee tender offers include ElevenLabs, Linear, and Clay, which conducted two in a nine-month period.

These startups can offer employee liquidity largely because investors are eager to increase their ownership in such rapidly growing companies.

“We had the opportunity to bring together the recent investment demand and growth milestones with rewarding the team’s hard work,” Jesse Zhang, Decagon CEO and co-founder, told TechCrunch.

While Decagon has not disclosed its revenue figures since late 2024 — when its annual recurring revenue (ARR) surpassed eight figures — its rapidly climbing valuation suggests the company’s growth remains on a steep upward trajectory. The startup’s current $4.5 billion valuation is a threefold increase from the $1.5 billion it announced in June.

Decagon builds AI “concierge” agents for large companies that autonomously resolve customer inquiries using chat, email, and voice mode. The startup’s more than 100 large customers include Avis Budget Group, 1-800-Flowers, Quince, Oura Health, and Away Travel.

Although many other companies, including Sierra, Intercom, and Parloa, are also developing AI agents to automate the work traditionally handled by human customer support representatives, the market opportunity is massive. Gartner estimates there are 17 million contact center agents worldwide, a global workforce these companies are now looking to automate.