AI Search Startup Profound Raises $180 Million in D Round

AI search optimization startup Profound has raised $180 million in a D round, achieving a valuation of $1.8 billion, according to Bloomberg. The funding was led by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, Bloomberg reported. Founded in 2024, Profound has now accumulated over $335 million in total fundraising, with the latest round bringing its total to more than $335 million. The company provides software that helps businesses adapt to an environment where users search via AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini instead of traditional search engines. Bloomberg noted that the software tracks brand mentions, context, and explanation styles across responses from multiple AI models.