Eightfold AI raises $220 mn from SoftBank Vision fund, valuation doubles

Startup doubles valuation to $2.1 billion in seven months

SaaS unicorn Eightfold AI has raised $220 million in a Series E funding round, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. With this round, the US-headquartered company founded by IITians Ashutosh Garg and Varun Kacholia, has more than doubled its valuation since November last year to $2.1 billion.

This round also saw participation from previous investors including General Catalyst, Capital One Ventures, Foundation Capital, IVP and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Total funding raised to date by Eightfold AI is more than $410 million, with $325 million coming in the last seven months.

The company, headquartered in the US, would be utilising the platform to fuel growth, invest in the technology and the product. “Most importantly, we will keep enhancing our functionalities, so that we can keep solving for employment. We are also extending our platform where our partners can build on top of our platform because we don't believe we can build everything ourselves,” Garg told Business Standard, a former Google techie who founded Eightfold AI in 2016.

The company has a unique Talent Intelligence Platform, which helps organisations to retain top performers, upskill and reskill the workforce, recruit top talent efficiently, and reach diversity goals. It has clients such as Tata Communications in India.

“India is an extremely important market for us. If you think about the global workforce, pretty much every company has an office in India,” said Garg. 

Of the 250 employees at Eightfold AI, 100 sit out of India. “Over the years, I expect 50 per cent of our team or more to be in India. So you can anticipate that mapping to north of $100 million plus,” revealed Garg on the investment plans in India.

EIghtfold AI is a part of the growing list of SaaS success stories such as Zenoti, Freshworks and Druva being written by Indian-origin founders who have set base in the US. 

“Powered by AI and machine learning, Eightfold’s platform provides global enterprises with a single solution for managing the entire talent lifecycle, including hiring, retaining, and growing a diverse global workforce,” said Deep Nishar, Senior Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.