By Harshita Mary Varghese
Oct 29 (Reuters) - Serval raised $150 million in a Sequoia-led round at a $3 billion valuation, as the enterprise automation company seeks to use AI agents to handle workplace tasks and replace legacy software across large organizations.
The round triples Serval's $1 billion valuation from December, highlighting investor interest in AI startups taking on established enterprise software providers such as ServiceNow and Workday.
San Francisco-based Serval, which has raised $277 million to date, develops AI agents that automate workplace processes, initially focusing on IT operations such as managing employee access, troubleshooting, and handling software and hardware assets.
"It's not an additional layer of AI spend on top of your existing system of record, it is a true alternative replacement for platforms like ServiceNow," Jake Stauch, co-founder and CEO of Serval, told Reuters.
Stauch said electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors migrated from ServiceNow to Serval in 45 days.
Serval's new funding will support an expansion of its Catalyst product, which is designed to help companies build and run automated workflows.
On how companies can prevent AI agents from accessing sensitive information or making unauthorized changes, Stauch said Serval separates the agent used by administrators to build tools from the one employees use to access approved workflows.
He said permissions and approvals are controlled by IT and security teams, while customers still generally want human approval for sensitive actions such as password resets, application access and changes to sensitive systems.
Previous investors, including Elad Gil, First Round and General Catalyst, also joined the latest funding round.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)