AI-Search Marketing Startup Profound Raises $180M Series D at $1.8B Led by Sequoia and Kleiner

New York-based Profound raised a $180 million Series D led by Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins at a $1.8 billion valuation, taking total funding above $335 million. The company sells 'answer-engine' visibility tools that let brands monitor and shape how ChatGPT, Perplexity and other assistants recommend them. The round nearly doubles the $1B mark hit in its $96M Series C just seven months ago.