QIA leads $125m funding round for AI startup Cresta

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has led the new $125 million funding round for Cresta, a US-based generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform for contact centres.

The series D round included World Innovation Lab, Accenture, Comcast Ventures, EnvisionX, LG Ventures, Qualcomm, Scan Health and Workday Ventures.

The round included returning investors Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, J.P. Morgan, Sequoia Capital and Tiger Global.

The round takes the startup’s total funding to more than $270 million.

The San Francisco-headquartered Cresta provides a unified platform for human and AI agents that transforms customer conversations and workflows at every level of the contact centre.  

• QIA helps raise $318m for US electric aircraft maker
• QIA looks at investments in Australia and Asia
• QIA invests in French semiconductor fund Ardian

In the last two years, the startup has nearly quadrupled its annual recurring revenue and almost doubled its customer base.

Additionally, Cresta will be rapidly scaling R&D by opening two new engineering hubs in Romania and India to add to existing offices in Palo Alto, San Francisco, New York, Berlin and Toronto.

QIA is becoming a growing force in technology, investing most recently in semiconductor firms that power digital and green transformations in areas such as artificial intelligence, mobility and consumer technology.