It can refer to an agency that handles PR, books travel, or manages talent\u2014and by extension, to agents themselves, from human talent scouts to the AI agents these days popping up everywhere in tech. But most often, I use it to describe something more fundamental: having agency in situations, the ability to shape outcomes rather than just responding to them. I tell this to Elias Torres, the cofounder and CEO of agentic AI customer success startup Agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the definition we use,\u201d he said. \u201cBasically, I think that as AI moves into the future, the only thing left for humans to improve on is our agency. AI shouldn\u2019t have agency. We\u2019re the ones who are going to have agency.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s perhaps a funny thing to say for an entrepreneur who\u2019s literally making AI agents to automate customer service, drawing data from emails, Slack, support tickets, and product usage to give companies a full picture of individual customers. But it also tracks: The broad bull case for AI agents is that they give people back time and, ultimately, more options for how they spend their days.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we want to build businesses in the future and for the future, we need to be leveraging AI to manage customer experiences, from beginning to end,\u201d said Torres, who\u2019s fast-talking and candid. \u201cSo, that\u2019s my challenge: How do I build a platform that teaches companies to switch to AI, and customers to start preferring AI interactions? That\u2019s the journey we\u2019re on.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s certainly competition for Agency\u2014agentic AI for customer service has been a hot area, featuring ascendant companies like Sierra and Decagon. But Torres comes at this with a spin all his own: He sold his enterprise software company, Drift, to Vista for $1.2 billion in 2021. At that moment, Torres\u2014who grew up in Nicaragua and immigrated to the U.S. at 17\u2014became one of the most successful Latino founders in contemporary Silicon Valley (even though he\u2019s based in Boston).\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2024, he began again, teaming up with Luke Van Seters (who he worked with at Drift) to cofound Agency. Now, the startup has raised its $20 million Series A, led by Menlo Ventures, Fortune has exclusively learned. Sequoia, Felicis, Snowflake Ventures, and Databricks Ventures also participated in the round. The company also announced its first key product, Kai, named for Torres\u2019s executive assistant with epic predictive instincts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe technology and the market have really aligned in this specific moment,\u201d said Tim Tully, partner at Menlo Ventures, via email. \u201cLarge language models can now make sense of the messy, unstructured data and turn it into something actionable. Every company is trying to do more with less, and the timing couldn\u2019t be better for a product that can genuinely multiply a team\u2019s impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tully is referring to a piece of the puzzle that\u2019s part of the agentic AI zeitgeist and particularly important to Torres: That teams don\u2019t need to get quite so big, now or in the future. The logic applies not only to how he sees the broader landscape for businesses, small and large, but to his own company.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want my company to be more than 100 people, ever,\u201d Torres told Fortune. \u201cI want to be generating $1 billion in revenue with 100 people. I don\u2019t want another 5,000-person company. At HubSpot\u2014where I was before starting Drift\u2014I grew it to 600 people and it\u2019s now 7,000.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Higher headcount, he points out, doesn\u2019t definitionally translate to good customer relationships or good company culture. And, in fact, agility and clarity frequently wither under growing headcount. It all comes back to agency (the word and, I suppose, the company).<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people don\u2019t have the agency to do what they\u2019re dreaming of,\u201d said Torres. \u201cThe idea is that Agency\u2019s going to do a lot of the work for you\u2014we\u2019re getting the customers, supporting them, keeping you up to date. That\u2019s why solopreneurs can only get so far, because they can only do so much. I want people to follow their dreams. And I want to give people the agency to build the business they want.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
See you tomorrow,<\/p>\n
Allie Garfinkle Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today\u2019s newsletter. Subscribe here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Venture Deals<\/p>\n – Majestic Labs<\/a>, a San Francisco-based developer of AI servers, raised $100 million in Series A funding. Bow Wave Capital led the round and was joined by Lux Capital, SBI, Upfront, and others.<\/p>\n – Wonderful<\/a>, an Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based AI agent for enterprises, raised $100 million in Series A funding. Index Ventures led the round and was joined by Insight Partners, IVP, and existing investors Bessemer and Vine Ventures.<\/p>\n – WisdomAI<\/a>, a San Francisco-based developer of an AI data analyst platform, raised $50 million Series A funding. Kleiner Perkins led the round and was joined by NVentures and existing investors.<\/p>\n – Beside<\/a>, a Paris, France-based developer of an AI application designed to handle calls and texts, raised $32 million across Series A and seed rounds. EQT Ventures led the Series A round and Index Ventures led the seed round.<\/p>\n – Robyn AI<\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI assistant designed for emotional support, raised $5.5 million in seed funding. M13 led the round and was joined by others.<\/p>\n – Euler<\/a>, a Hafnarfj\u00f6r\u00f0ur, Iceland-based developer of AI-powered software designed to make 3D printing more reliable, raised \u20ac2 million ($2.3 million) in seed funding. Kvanted and Frumtak Ventures led the round.<\/p>\n – FALKIN<\/a>, a London, U.K.-based digital payment security platform, raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. TriplePoint Ventures led the round and was joined by Notion Capital, Back Future Ventures, Aviva\/Founders Factory, Haatch, and others.<\/p>\n – Relixir<\/a>, a San Francisco-based AI search inbound engine, raised $2 million in seed funding from Y Combinator, z21 Ventures, 468 Capital, and others.<\/p>\n – Self.co<\/a>, a Vilnius, Lithuania-based developer of allergy and food intolerance tests, raised \u20ac1.2 million ($1.4 million) in funding. Iron Wolf Capital led the round and was joined by Coinvest, NGL Ventures, and angel investors.<\/p>\n Private Equity<\/p>\n – Coalesce Capital agreed to acquire a majority stake in DecisionHR<\/a>, a Saint Petersburg, Fla.-based provider of employer and HR outsourcing services. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n – Davies, a portfolio company of BC Partners, agreed to acquire SCM Insurance Services<\/a>, an Edmonton, Canada-based claims management and insurance services company. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n – Diamond Landscaping, backed by Kian Capital, acquired Arizona Outdoor Designs<\/a>, a Cave Creek, Ariz.-based landscape services company. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n Exits<\/p>\n – Francisco Partners agreed to acquire OEConnection<\/a>, a Fairlawn, Ohio-based automotive aftersales platform, from Genstar Capital. Financial terms were not disclosed.<\/p>\n Other<\/p>\n
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Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com<\/a>
Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here<\/a>.<\/p>\n