Parloa’s financing and growth plans
Jan 15 (Reuters) – German startup Parloa raised $350 million in an advanced funding round that tripled the valuation of the artificial intelligence-driven customer service platform to $3 billion in less than a year.
Series D Funding Details
The Series D round, announced Thursday, was led by General Catalyst and joined by existing investors such as EQT Ventures, Altimeter Capital and Durable Capital Partners.
Customer base and revenue
This brings the startup’s total fundraising to over $560 million, including a $120 million Series C in July 2025 where it was valued at $1 billion.
Future expansion plans
The eight-year-old company is among startups developing an AI platform that can automate customer service for large businesses with little or no coding, including tasks like tracking packages and processing returns.
Parloa said its clients include Microsoft, Accenture, KPMG and Booking.com, and its annual recurring revenue has exceeded $50 million.
“In 2025, everyone finally realized… that (AI for customer service) actually worked, like it was a case that turned out to be a positive ROI,” co-founder and CEO Malte Kosub said in an interview.
Companies looking to reduce costs and meet growing customer demands are turning to AI-powered voice agents to handle customer service, driving demand and investor interest in startups developing this technology.
However, the rollout hasn’t always been smooth. Sweden’s buy now, pay later Klarna said last year it may have gone too far in its use of technology, cutting thousands of jobs, dropping some suppliers and turning to AI to create marketing campaigns.
Parloa plans to use the new funds to expand in Europe and the United States, including opening new offices in San Francisco and Madrid. It is already present in Berlin and New York.
The company also plans to increase its headcount from 380 to 600 by the end of 2026, with recruitment focused on both developers and sales staff.
(Reporting by Aditya Soni in Bangalore; Editing by Vijay Kishore)