More consumers are using AI tools rather than search engines, creating a challenge for marketing teams. They can’t just track website clicks or ad performance anymore; they need to understand how AI describes their brand, what answers it provides, and how often their brand is mentioned.
This shift has created a new layer of complexity. Many teams gather insights from AI visibility tools, but then have to move that data into separate automation platforms to act on it. The result is multiple systems, extra steps, and slower execution.
San Francisco-based Profound says it wants to simplify that process. The company announced a $96 million Series C funding round at a $1 billion valuation.
The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Evantic, Saga Ventures, and South Park Commons.
The fresh capital is expected to support product development, integrations, and expansion of the broader ecosystem around Profound Agents.
Over the past 18 months, the company says growth has accelerated as interest in AI-powered marketing tools has increased.
From visibility to action
Profound initially helped marketing teams understand how AI talked about their brands by tracking mentions, sentiment, and performance on major platforms. However, customers often needed to export this data to other tools, which caused some issues.
To solve this, Profound is launching “Profound Agents.” These agents add orchestration and automation features directly to the platform, allowing teams to manage insights and execution all in one place. This approach creates a single source of truth for AI-driven marketing.
Profound says companies such as Target, Walmart, Figma, MongoDB, Charlotte Tilbury, and US Bank use its platform.
According to the company, the idea is to let AI agents handle repetitive operational tasks while human teams remain in control of strategy and final decisions.
Profound Agents are designed to work with tools many teams already rely on, including HubSpot, Google Workspace, Gamma, Parallel AI, and Vercel. The company says it continues to add new integrations.
Alongside the product launch, Profound is building what it calls a broader ecosystem. This includes training, certification programmes, an agency marketplace, and a programme called Profound University.
The company believes this could help create a new role within marketing teams, which it calls a “Marketing Engineer.”
