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AI research startup Listen Labs scrubbed a $1.5B funding round for Salesforce talks

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Listen Labs, a market research startup that uses voice AI to conduct customer interviews, recently signed a term sheet for a $125 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation, with Menlo Ventures set to lead the round, according to several people with knowledge of the matter.

But that round never closed, the people said. Listen Labs walked away from the signed term sheet, a rare occurrence in the venture world and one that is generally frowned upon, according to VCs.

The financing likely collapsed because of acquisition talks with Salesforce. The CRM giant has recently held talks to buy Listen Labs for around $2 billion, Business Insider reported. The discussions are not finalized, however, and may not result in a deal, the outlet notes.

Listen Labs is one of the leading startups in the rapidly growing field of automating customer research with AI. The three-year-old startup has about $30 million in annualized revenue, about three times more than Simile, a competing startup that predicts human behavior, according to two people familiar with the companies’ financials. In late July, Simile announced that it had closed a $200 million Series B at a $2 billion valuation led by Greenoaks — likely setting a new valuation benchmark for Listen Labs, one person said.

If talks with Salesforce collapse, several VCs told TechCrunch that they expect Listen Labs to return to market and target a valuation of $2 billion or higher.

While acquiring Listen Labs could strengthen Salesforce’s AI capabilities by using the startup’s AI to help predict customer needs, the CRM giant may ultimately decide that paying a 67 times revenue multiple is too steep a valuation, according to a person with experience negotiating exits to Salesforce.

Listen Labs, Salesforce, Menlo Ventures, and Simile did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Listen Labs was co-founded in 2023 by Florian Jüngermann, a former German national champion in competitive computer programming, and Alfred Wahlforss, who previously founded a staffing startup called Bemlo. The two met while pursuing master’s degrees at Harvard.

Listen Labs’ AI develops survey questions and interviews customers over audio or video. The resulting conversations are then packaged into reports and PowerPoint presentations, similar to those traditionally produced by human market researchers.

Fortune 500 companies rely on this type of research to gauge customer needs and satisfaction with their brands and products, but traditional market research is expensive and can take weeks to complete.

Listen Labs’ technology helps reduce the time and cost of these projects, enabling companies to quickly understand how customers are reacting to product changes and iterate on them more efficiently.

The startup’s customers include Microsoft, Canva, Anthropic, and Sweetgreen. Listen Labs and Simile aren’t the only startups using AI to disrupt the customer research market.

Besides Simile, competitors in the space include Outset, Keplar, and Aaru. While some platforms automate interviews with real humans, others startups — like Aaru and Simile — take a synthetic approach, using AI to simulate human behavior and predict responses without interviewing anyone at all.

Listen Labs was previously valued at $500 million when it announced a $69 million Series B round in late January led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from returning backers Sequoia, Conviction, and Pear VC.

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APC crisis deepens as Zamfara aspirant accuses Yilwatda of bias ahead of fresh primary

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The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Zamfara State is heading for a crisis ahead of its fresh primary election to select the party's candidate for the Kaura Namoda/Birnin Magaji Federal Constituency.

Recall that the Court of Appeal had ordered a fresh primary in the constituency.

In what appears to signal the beginning of a brewing crisis within the Zamfara APC, an aspirant, Hassan Dangaladima, has petitioned two organs of the party over the actions of its National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda.

In the petition sighted by DAILY POST on Tuesday, which has since gone viral, Dangaladima levelled several allegations against the APC National Chairman.

Chief among his allegations is that Yilwatda unilaterally constituted the committee to conduct the fresh primary without recourse to the National Working Committee (NWC), which he heads.

"Pursuant to the said court order, the National Chairman purported to nominate and approve a committee to conduct the rescheduled primary election.

"The said nomination was made unilaterally by the National Chairman; no meeting of the National Working Committee was convened for that purpose."

The petitioner also alleged that his main rival for the ticket, Honourable Aminu Sani Jaji, is not a card-carrying member of the party.

The petition urged the APC National Executive Committee, NEC, to halt the conduct of the fresh primary and appoint a new set of individuals to conduct the exercise.

However, in response to the petition, the APC National Chairman, through his media aide, Abimbola Tooki, dismissed the allegations as baseless.

According to the party chairman, the committee was properly constituted, contrary to the petitioner's claim.

DAILY POST reports that the Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal recently defected to the APC. President Bola Tinubu's re-election campaign Director-General, Abdulaziz Yari, is also from Zamfara State.

APC crisis deepens as Zamfara aspirant accuses Yilwatda of bias ahead of fresh primary

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2027: We're in race to win – PRP Chairman Baba-Ahmed

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Hakeem Baba Ahmed,

The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, says the party is in the 2027 election race to win and not to make numbers.

Baba-Ahmed made this statement at a strategic retreat organised for the party's leadership and candidates.

He charged the party's candidates to go out and convince Nigerians that PRP deserves their trust and their votes in 2027.

According to him, the party has the best presidential candidate in Donald Duke, adding that history and character have moulded him to lead Nigeria out of its current challenges to a deserved status of affluence, security and unity.

He also said that Duke's running mate, Malam Sule Mohammed, is a study in principled loyalty, excellence in personal and professional life and unparalleled humility, which is tragically rare in current leaders.

Baba-Ahmed said the party also has governorship candidates who will be models of competent leadership, integrity and courage, stressing that they are candidates who will embody service, sacrifice and humility.

"We are PRP. We're in the 2027 race to win not to make numbers. We are products of a great tradition which insists that Nigeria can be great enough for all those who work honestly, and a nation which has the same place for the weak and the vulnerable as it has for those who are trusted with power or possess wealth," Baba-Ahmed said.

According to him, the party is under no illusions that its tasks will be easy, stating that the party will be competing in very hostile environments where incumbents fear change, while PRP champions it.

He said the party will find resistance from politicians who bribe the people for their future, while PRP asks for trust and the courage to choose quality and integrity.

On his part, the party's presidential candidate, Donald Duke, took a swipe at the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, saying it is enjoying too much advantage when it comes to campaign visibility.

According to him, opposition parties are finding it hard to get venues and places to put their adverts as the 2027 elections draw near.

He said the problem is making it harder and harder for opposition candidates to reach voters in different parts of the country.

2027: We’re in race to win – PRP Chairman Baba-Ahmed

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