Khosla Ventures invests in Profound
Funding Provisional 86% confidence first seen
Profound raised a $180 million Series D at a $1.8 billion valuation, with Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins jointly leading the round. Khosla Ventures participated alongside other existing investors such as Lightspeed Venture Partners and South Park Commons. The funding will be used to post-train or customize AI models for marketing use cases and to build a benchmark for measuring automation performance, which matters for scaling Profound’s AI-visibility software for brands in AI search/answer ecosystems.
The deal
Profound $180M Late stage · announced 15 Sep 2026
Investors Sequoia Capital Kleiner Perkins
Deal terms as reported in the coverage below.
Decision brief
- What changed
- Profound raised a $180 million Series D at a $1.8 billion valuation, with Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins jointly leading and Khosla Ventures participating alongside existing investors. According to the coverage, Profound will use the funding to post-train or customize AI models for marketing use cases and to build a benchmark for measuring automation performance.
- Why it matters
- For business leaders responsible for customer acquisition and digital presence, this funding gives Profound more capital to strengthen software aimed at improving how brands are discovered and cited inside AI search and answer services. The stated focus on customized marketing models and automation benchmarking suggests vendors in this category are moving beyond basic monitoring toward measurable workflow automation, which could affect martech buying, partner selection, and competitive visibility strategies.
- Evidence
- SiliconANGLE AI reports that Profound raised $180 million at a $1.8 billion valuation, with Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins leading and Khosla Ventures participating. The same report says the proceeds will fund customized or post-trained AI models for marketing and a benchmark for measuring automation performance; however, the event is supported here by a single outlet rather than multiple independent reports.
- What remains uncertain
- The coverage does not specify Khosla Ventures’ check size, ownership impact, governance role, or whether its participation changes Profound’s strategic direction beyond providing capital. It also does not verify how effective Profound’s planned model customization and benchmarking will be in improving brand visibility across AI search and answer ecosystems.
- Monitor next
- Watch for Profound to release its promised automation-performance benchmark or customer results showing measurable gains in brand visibility within AI search and answer platforms.
Analytical support, not advice — assumptions and open questions stated above.