Investment firm Tenacity Ventures has entered the cap table of AI-driven customer engagement platform Exotel through a secondary transaction, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Confirming the development, an Exotel spokesperson stated, “Tenacity became an investor in the company through secondary purchase of shares, primarily from vested ESOP holders.”
In addition to ESOP holders, private equity firm Sistema Asia Capital is also understood to have sold a portion of its stake in the company to Tenacity as part of the same transaction, sources added.
One of the sources noted that the deal was executed at a valuation approximately 40% lower than Exotel’s previous round. “The shares were bought at INR 45,000 apiece compared to the earlier valuation of INR 75,000 apiece,” the source said.
While Exotel declined to share details on the current valuation, the spokesperson clarified, “Secondary investments such as this by Tenacity are private transactions, strictly between the buyer and seller, and we cannot comment on the details of these.”
Since the majority of shares were purchased from employees under the ESOP programme, the deal is not expected to affect Exotel’s valuation, which was last reported to be around $400 Mn in 2022, according to Moneycontrol.
Founded in 2011 by Shivakumar Ganesan, Ishwar Sridharan, Siddharth Ramesh, and Vijay Sharma, Exotel provides AI-powered solutions to help businesses enhance customer interactions. Its platform supports automated voice and chat agents, promotional messaging, campaign management, and call performance analytics.
In 2023, Exotel introduced its ‘House Of AI’ product, designed to enable AI bots to grasp context, sentiment, and intent in customer interactions, enabling faster resolutions with reduced human intervention.
The company has pursued an AI-focused strategy since 2021, following the acquisitions of Cogno AI and Ameyo to strengthen its omnichannel and conversational AI capabilities.
Exotel has raised over $87 Mn to date from investors including Blume Ventures, A91 Partners, and 360 One.
Financially, Exotel reduced its net loss by 60% in FY24 to ₹43.3 Cr, down from ₹109.4 Cr in FY23. However, revenue saw modest growth, rising 6% year-on-year to ₹444.5 Cr from ₹419.6 Cr in the previous fiscal.
