Unicorn Gong hits $300M revenue milestone but no IPO plans for now
AI-driven sales intelligence firm focuses on expansion as it delays public offering.
Israeli unicorn Gong has quietly surged past a $300 million annual revenue run rate, Calcalist has learned. Fueled by the rapid adoption of its AI-driven sales intelligence platform, the company is now seeing Fortune 10 enterprises and leading AI firms embrace its automation tools—helping sales teams close deals faster and forecast revenue with unprecedented accuracy.
According to market estimates, Gong's annual growth rate has reached 25%-30%, primarily due to advancements in artificial intelligence applications.
2024 marked the ninth year since Gong, which developed a business intelligence solution for sales teams, began selling its products. In the summer of 2021, Gong—founded by Amit Ben-Dov—raised $250 million at a valuation of $7.2 billion. At the time, market estimates placed its revenue run rate at $100 million. That fundraising round briefly made Gong the largest unicorn in Israel, but since then, the company has not raised additional capital and has maintained a low profile. In total, Gong has raised approximately $600 million since its founding in 2015.
"2023 was a challenging year, but in 2024 we saw a significant acceleration in growth, and in fact, we've been increasing our growth rate for eight consecutive quarters," Ben-Dov told Calcalist. "Customers have not yet returned to purchasing as easily and quickly as they did in 2021, but we have made adjustments to our sales processes and internal efficiency. Today, four of the Fortune 10 companies—including Google—are using Gong's solution. These are companies that previously would not even consider our product. Additionally, 80%-90% of LLM companies (those developing generative AI language models) now use Gong to sell to business customers."
According to Ben-Dov, Gong has also seen a shift in its customer base, with some now paying hundreds of thousands of dollars annually compared to tens of thousands in the past. "The number of seven-figure customers more than doubled last year," he noted.
Gong has developed an advanced sales management system that provides sales teams with crucial business insights about customers. According to Ben-Dov, the rise of artificial intelligence has been a key factor in the company's revenue growth. "Gong was founded as an AI-driven company, but we largely kept that hidden for years because discussions around artificial intelligence often scared off potential customers," he explained. "Now, after developing two new products, we can automate a significant portion of customer communication, tailor messages to each customer's needs, and prepare salespeople for meetings with detailed customer insights.
"In addition, we created a forecasting product that provides accurate sales predictions based on all open deals and email interactions. The system not only estimates how much a salesperson will close by the end of the quarter but also tracks their progress against targets and suggests strategies to exceed them. The adoption of these new features has surged by hundreds of percent over the past year."
Ben-Dov added that research firms such as Gartner are recognizing the evolution of the industry, recently introducing a new category in sales management software called "revenue orchestration."
On the topic of profitability, Gong has yet to provide any concrete updates. However, Ben-Dov insists that profitability is a strategic choice. "For us, profitability is not a taboo or a scary concept—we can become profitable at any time if we choose to," he said. "But right now, we want to capitalize on our positive momentum and are actively hiring to support growth. We've always operated efficiently, which is why we laid off very few employees during the tougher years, mainly in the human resources department since we weren't hiring. Now, we're back to recruiting."
Gong currently employs 1,300 people, with 380 working at its development center in Israel. The company recently leased three floors in the ICON Tower in Tel Aviv, relocating from a smaller space in the Sapir Tower to accommodate its expected expansion.
When asked whether Gong's $300 million revenue run rate justifies a valuation above $7 billion, Ben-Dov remained noncommittal. "I don’t know what valuation we would receive today because market multiples have changed," he said. "Fortunately, we've always been efficient, and we still have most of the capital we raised, so we don’t need and don’t plan to raise additional funds in the near future. An IPO on Wall Street is on the agenda, but not in the immediate future, and we have no defined timeline for it."
