New York-based startup Profound has reached a valuation of $1.8 billion following a $180 million Series D funding round. The round was co-led by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, just seven months after the company achieved a $1 billion valuation in February 2026.
Founded in 2024 by CEO James Cadwallader and CTO Dylan Babbs, the company has raised over $335 million in total capital. It started with a seed round of approximately $3.5 million. The firm currently serves more than 700 enterprise clients, including about 10% of the Fortune 500.
Profound operates in the answer engine optimization (AEO) category. Its platform monitors brand presence within AI-generated responses from tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. It tracks response frequency, sentiment, and competitive positioning to suggest content strategies.
The company was named the sole leader on the G2 Winter 2026 AEO grid. While the startup has scaled rapidly, it faces risks from the volatility of AI search platforms, as companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic frequently update their information surfacing and citation models.
