Bret Taylor’s Sierra reaches $100M ARR in under two years

Sierra, a 21-month-old, San Francisco-based startup that builds customer service AI agents for enterprises, announced on Friday that it reached $100 million in annual revenue run rate (ARR). The company’s rapid growth suggests that businesses across industries are embracing AI agents.

The startup’s growth rate surprised even its seasoned co-founders, former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor and longtime Google alum Clay Bavor, who wrote on their blog: “That’s a heck of a lot quicker than we expected.”

Sierra’s customers include tech companies like Deliveroo, Discord, Ramp, Rivian, SoFi, and Tubi, as well as well-established businesses outside of the tech sector, such as ADT, Bissell, Vans, Cigna, and SiriusXM.

Taylor and Bavor said they expected tech companies would feel comfortable experimenting with AI customer service agents, but they were astounded that older businesses also became Sierra’s customers.

The company says it can build AI agents that can handle tasks like authenticating patients for healthcare providers, processing returns, ordering replacement credit cards, and helping customers apply for mortgages — essentially automating customer service work that previously required human agents.

Sierra faces competition from startups like Decagon and Intercom, but the company claims to be the leader in the AI customer service category.

Sierra was last valued at $10 billion when it raised a $350 million round led by Greenoaks Capital in September. Other investors in the company include Sequoia, Benchmark, ICONIQ, and Thrive Capital.

Based on its $100 million ARR, Sierra is currently valued at a 100x revenue multiple, a hefty valuation despite its exceptionally fast growth.

The startup employs an outcomes-based pricing model, charging customers for completed work rather than charging flat subscription fees.

Taylor and Bavor met at Google in 2005, where Taylor hired Bavor as an associate product manager.

A Stanford computer science graduate, Taylor co-created Google Maps before founding FriendFeed, which Facebook acquired. At Facebook, he served as CTO and helped create the iconic “Like” button. He later founded Quip, a Google Docs competitor that Salesforce acquired for $750 million in 2016.

Taylor went on to serve as Salesforce co-CEO alongside Marc Benioff for over a year. After Taylor left Salesforce in 2023, Bavor — who had spent 18 years at Google leading products like Gmail and Google Drive — invited him to lunch, where they decided to launch Sierra.