AI captured close to half of all global startup funding in 2025 — $202.3 billion, a jump of more than 75% year over year. Mega-rounds of $100 million or more made up 79% of that total, a sign the market has moved past early experimentation into a phase where proven teams with real business models command serious capital. Business communication is one of the categories benefiting most.
Who’s raising the biggest rounds
- LeapXpert — secured $180 million in growth funding to scale AI-powered, governed communications for financial services and government clients.
- Gong — backed by Coatue, Salesforce Ventures, and Sequoia, serves over 4,000 enterprise customers and processes hundreds of millions of customer interactions a year.
- Apollo — passed $100 million in ARR and 1 million registered users in 2025, with a free tier generous enough that many sales teams use it as their primary prospecting tool.
- Taktile — closed a $110 million Series C, bringing total funding to $184 million since 2020.
- ElevenLabs — compressed roughly $800 million of fundraising into 37 months across five rounds, from a $2 million pre-seed in January 2023 to $791 million total by February 2026.
The bigger trend
Among conversational and business-communication AI startups whose most recent round landed in 2025 or 2026, the median round size now exceeds $100 million — roughly triple the median for companies that last raised before 2024. That’s rapid round-size inflation, and it signals investors are consolidating around a smaller number of category leaders rather than spreading bets across many early-stage players.
How much AI funding went to business communication startups in 2025-2026?
AI captured close to $202.3 billion in global startup funding in 2025, up more than 75% year over year, with mega-rounds of $100 million or more making up 79% of that total. Business communication startups were a major beneficiary.
What are the top AI business communication startups?
LeapXpert ($180M growth round), Gong (backed by Coatue, Salesforce Ventures, and Sequoia), Apollo ($100M+ ARR, 1M users), Taktile ($110M Series C, $184M total), and ElevenLabs ($791M total by February 2026) are among the leading companies.
Are AI business communication round sizes growing?
Yes. Among startups whose latest round came in 2025 or 2026, the median round size exceeds $100 million, roughly triple the median for companies that last raised before 2024.
