Ukrainian unicorn People.ai: is the next step to the stock exchange?

Startup People.ai, founded by Ukrainian Oleh Roginsky, has closed a $100M round, reaching unicorn status with a valuation of $1.1B.

The company’s software implements an artificial intelligence-based solution into businesses to conduct sales performance assessments. The AI then suggests opportunities to boost them. It does this by analysing employees’ calls, calendars and emails. The data remains depersonalized, according to management, and the result of the analysis is impersonal.

People.ai clients include Zoom, Okta, AppDynamics, DataRobot, Ivanti and other major market players. But most interestingly, the investors in the round were Mubadala Investment Co. and Akkadian Ventures. The former is the largest venture capital fund in the world today.

Such a partner could mean the company is on the verge of an IPO, for which it needs an investor who is able to buy shares and maintain the stability of the project once it goes public. Mubadala ($2T general fund) is the most reliable companion in this matter. In addition, according to Oleg Roginsky, the size of the market allows the company to grow quietly: investors have valued the market at $20–40B.