Bret Taylor's Sierra Raises $350M at $10B Valuation

Sierra Secures $350 Million in Funding

Investment sentiment is demonstrably positive regarding Sierra, the AI agent startup established by former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor.

Sierra, focused on providing enterprises with tools to develop AI-powered customer service agents, revealed a $350 million funding injection on Thursday.

This funding round was spearheaded by existing investor Greenoaks Capital, bringing the company’s valuation to $10 billion. This information was initially reported by Axios on Wednesday and subsequently confirmed via a company blog post.

Company Foundation and Growth

Founded in early 2024 by Taylor and Clay Bavor, a veteran of Google, Sierra has rapidly gained traction.

Within its first 18 months of operation, the company reports securing hundreds of clients, including prominent names like SoFi, Ramp, and Brex.

Total Funding to Date

To date, Sierra has amassed a total of $635 million in funding.

This includes a $110 million round closed in February of the previous year, led by Sequoia and Benchmark, and a further $175 million secured in October of the same year, again led by Greenoaks.

Additional investors include ICONIQ and Thrive Capital.

Founders’ Backgrounds

Both Taylor and Bavor possess extensive experience in the customer service technology sector.

Taylor dedicated nearly a decade to Salesforce and previously founded Quip, which was acquired by Salesforce for $750 million in the summer of 2016.

Bavor held leadership positions at Google, overseeing products such as Gmail and Google Drive.

Prior Collaboration and Experience

Taylor and Bavor initially connected during their time at Google, where Taylor contributed to the launch of Google Maps.

Subsequently, Taylor served as Facebook’s CTO and later oversaw the Twitter board during Elon Musk’s acquisition of the platform.

APX Program and Talent Acquisition

Sierra recently announced the launch of its second year of the APX program earlier this week.

This rotational program, designed for recent technical graduates, mirrors a similar initiative at Google that played a key role in launching the careers of both Taylor and Bavor.

The announcement is noteworthy given the current challenging job market and the ongoing evaluation of AI’s impact on workforce requirements.

Program Details and Opportunities

The APX program specifically targets computer science graduates, offering experience in both agent engineering and product management.

Taylor characterizes the roles as offering “an irresponsible amount of responsibility,” granting new graduates the opportunity to contribute to multiple product launches within their first year, mirroring the autonomy they experienced at Google.

This approach emphasizes hands-on experience and rapid development for emerging talent.