Decagon completes tender offer at $4.5 billion valuation

Decagon, an artificial-intelligence customer support startup, is set to complete its first tender offer, which is a financial transaction allowing employees to sell a portion of their vested shares. This transaction will enable more than 300 eligible employees to liquidate some of their equity. The secondary sale values the company at $4.5 billion, marking a threefold increase from the $1.5 billion valuation the startup announced in June. This transaction represents the company’s first employee secondary sale.

The secondary sale is backed by the same investors that participated in Decagon’s recent $250 million Series D, which is a late-stage funding round. These investors include Coatue, Index, a16z, Definition, Forerunner, and Ribbit. As competition for artificial-intelligence talent intensifies, high-growth startups are increasingly using these types of transactions to attract and retain high-caliber employees by allowing them to convert equity into cash. Other AI startups that have recently conducted employee tender offers include ElevenLabs, Linear, and Clay. These startups are able to offer employee liquidity largely because investors are eager to increase their ownership in these companies, highlighting how startups are leveraging investor demand to reward their teams.

“We had the opportunity to bring together the recent investment demand and growth milestones with rewarding the team’s hard work,” Jesse Zhang, Decagon CEO and co-founder, told TechCrunch. Although Decagon has not publicly disclosed its revenue figures since late 2024—when its annual recurring revenue (ARR) surpassed eight figures—its climbing valuation indicates an upward trajectory. The current $4.5 billion valuation represents a threefold increase from the $1.5 billion valuation the company announced in June.

Decagon builds AI “concierge agents,” which are AI software tools that autonomously resolve customer inquiries across chat, email, and voice modes. The startup currently serves more than 100 large customers, including Avis Budget Group, 1-800-Flowers, Quince, Oura Health, and Away Travel. While other companies such as Sierra, Intercom, and Parloa are also developing AI agents to automate customer support, the market opportunity remains massive. The research firm Gartner estimates there are 17 million contact center agents worldwide, representing a worldwide workforce that these technology companies are looking to automate.

Why it matters

Decagon’s tender offer highlights how high-growth AI startups are using secondary liquidity to retain talent in a competitive market, even shortly after major funding rounds.