Decagon has completed its first tender offer worth $4.5 billion

Decagon, an artificial intelligence-powered customer support startup, is set to announce the completion of its first tender offer, allowing its 300-plus employees to sell a portion of their vested shares at the company’s latest valuation of $4.5 billion.

Secondaries at the less than three-year-old company are led by the same investors who backed its $250 million Series D less than two months ago, including Coatue, Index, a16z, Definition, Forerunner, and Ribbit.

As competition for AI talent intensifies and grows rapidly, young startups are increasingly finding that one of the most effective ways to attract and retain high-caliber employees is to allow them to convert some of their shares into cash through these types of transactions.

Other AI startups that have recently made employee bids include: ElevenLabs, Linear, and Clay, two of which were conducted over a nine-month period.

These startups can provide liquidity to employees largely because investors are keen to increase their ownership in such fast-growing companies.

“We had the opportunity to combine recent investment demand with growth milestones by rewarding the hard work of the team,” Jesse Zhang, CEO and co-founder of Decagon, told TechCrunch.

While Decagon hasn’t disclosed its revenue numbers since late 2024 — when its annual recurring revenue (ARR) topped eight figures — its rapidly rising valuation suggests the company’s growth remains on a sharp upward trajectory. The startup’s current valuation of $4.5 billion represents a three-fold increase from the $1.5 billion it announced in June.

Decagon builds AI-powered “concierge” agents for large businesses that autonomously resolve customer queries using chat, email, and voice mode. The startup’s 100-plus clients include Avis Budget Group, 1-800-Flowers, Quince, Ora Health and Away Travel.

Although several other companies, including Sierra, Intercom, and Parloa, are also developing AI agents to automate work traditionally handled by human customer support representatives, the market opportunities are enormous. Gartner estimates there are 17 million call center agents worldwide, a global workforce that these companies are now looking to automate.