Prezent raises $30 million to acquire AI services firms — starting with founder’s other company

Summary

Prezent, a startup that offers an AI-powered presentation builder to enterprises, said today that it has raised $30 million in funding led by Multiplier Capital, Greycroft, and Nomura Strategic Ventures, with participation from existing investors like Emergent Ventures, West Wave Capital, and Alumni Ventures. The Los Altos, California, startup, which is now valued at $400 million, has raised over $74 million to date. It plans to use the new capital largely for acquisitions. The company has also made its first acquisition, buying Prezentium, a services-led presentation company that operates in the life sciences vertical. In an unusual arrangement, Prezent founder Rahul Mishra was one of the co-founders of Prezentium. Mishra said that since the beginning of his new startup, he has been the non-operating President of Prezentium. Both startups already have an existing relationship, as Prezent uses Prezentium as a go-to-market partner. The acquisition essentially brings Mishra’s two ventures under one roof, allowing Prezent to use Prezentium’s client base to offer its own AI suite to more customers. Image Credits: Prezent There are plenty of companies trying to create AI-powered presentation-building tools, including Presentations.ai, Lica, Gamma, and Chronicle. Notably, all these companies have Accel as a backer. While most of them focus on consumers and small business users, Prezent wants to stick to an enterprise strategy, targeting larger corporations. Previously, the company stated that it wants to expand its offerings to different verticals, including finance and manufacturing. However, Mishra noted that for now, the company wants to focus on serving clients in the life sciences and tech industries. “There are plenty of tools that are trying to make presentations pretty. We want to provide the best tools for business communications. I think presentation is one of the frontiers in businesses that is not automated yet. We want to help data scientists and designers to...