Prezent Secures $30 Million to Acquire AI Service Companies, Starting with Founder’s Own Business

Prezent, an enterprise-focused startup that offers an AI-powered presentation builder, has announced it has secured $30 million in funding led by Multiplier Capital, Greycroft, and Nomura Strategic Ventures, with further contributions from existing investors like Emergent Ventures, West Wave Capital, and Alumni Ventures.

Located in Los Altos, California, the startup’s current valuation stands at $400 million, having raised over $74 million to date. The newly acquired funds will be primarily directed towards acquisitions.

Prezent has made its first acquisition by acquiring Prezentium, a presentation services company specializing in the life sciences industry. Notably, Prezent’s founder, Rahul Mishra, co-founded Prezentium. Mishra stated that he has held the position of non-operating President of Prezentium since initiating his new venture. The strong partnership between the two firms has Prezent using Prezentium as a key go-to-market associate. This acquisition integrates Mishra’s two ventures, enabling Prezent to capitalize on Prezentium’s client network to expand the reach of its AI tools.

Several companies are entering the AI-powered presentation tool market, including Presentations.ai, Lica, Gamma, and Chronicle, all supported by Accel. While many of these target consumers and small enterprises, Prezent focuses on serving larger organizations. The company plans to expand into various sectors such as finance and manufacturing, although Mishra highlights an initial emphasis on life sciences and technology clients.

“Many tools are designed to enhance the aesthetics of presentations. Our mission is to provide companies with superior communication tools. The area of presentation in business remains significantly unautomated. We aim to support data scientists and designers in conveying their ideas more effectively through automation,” Mishra shared with TechCrunch.

Mishra, who has experience with McKinsey, indicated that Prezent employs a customized approach to training AI models tailored for various industries.

To facilitate this process, Prezent provides a presentation engineer who is knowledgeable about both the industry and the company’s offerings. This ensures that team members can more effectively adjust to utilizing AI tools in their presentation creation.

“The reality of AI in enterprises is that, while it can perform numerous tasks, it cannot guide people on its use. This is why we place presentation engineers within organizations to accelerate product adoption,” Mishra explained.

AI startups are increasingly targeting service company acquisitions to harness existing client relationships and deliver enhanced customization to enterprise customers. For instance, digital avatar firm D-ID has acquired Berlin’s video startup Simpleshow, and Google-backed legal tech company Lawhive has purchased a law firm in the UK. Such acquisitions help AI startups combine their technology with the domain knowledge and client service capabilities of these service firms.

Prezent plans to develop more partnerships and seek acquisitions in areas like executive communication coaching, medical writing, and consulting groups specializing in communications.

Mark Terbeek, a partner at Greycroft who has invested in multiple Prezent funding rounds, remarked that the venture firm identifies opportunities where businesses previously depended on costly agencies to fulfill particular requirements, and now AI tools are stepping in to address those needs.

“We believe Rajat and Prezent are keenly focused on effectively meeting specific business communication needs. Furthermore, we have noted the rapid evolution of software to adapt to user workflows, thus optimizing their time,” he shared during a conversation with TechCrunch.

Looking ahead, Prezent plans to enhance the personalization within its offerings, enabling the AI tool to adjust to the distinct style of each individual inside the organization. The company also aims to introduce multimodal functionality in deck creation, allowing users to input text, voice, or video to form presentations. Similar to Synthesia and D-ID, Prezent intends to incorporate digital avatars into its presentation solutions.