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Don't expect venture funding to agentic AI startups to decline, even though deal count may as VCs double down on winning companies, Wonderful co-founder and CEO Bar Winkler tells Axios Pro.

Driving the news: Last week, Wonderful, an Israeli AI agent startup, raised its own massive round — a $100 million Series A led by Index Ventures.

Wonderful just started selling earlier this year, but is already at $10 million ARR — while not concentrating on the U.S. market — and the new round valued the company at $700 million, per a source.

How it works: Wonderful allows enterprises to deploy customer service AI agents across voice, chat and email.

The startup has local teams that tailor the platform to the market, including adjusting agents for language and other cultural norms.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Axios: Is agentic AI seeing too much funding?

Winkler: "I don't think that investing now is irrational. It's like a very pragmatic technology, right? It's not like a theoretical technology. It's like we are being measured on actually solving real-life problems for enterprises."

Do you expect venture investment to continue at this level?

"I think, like in every market that is evolving, this will become more efficient. The way to become more efficient is to double and triple and quadruple down on companies that are succeeding. You will probably see more money flowing in, but less deals.

And I do think that there's going to be a time in 2026 when it doesn't make sense to start new companies."

There have been mixed reports on enterprise adoption of AI agents. What are you seeing?

"There is a lot less resistance from enterprises. It's almost as if everyone got the concept that AI is a technology that is here to stay and is working, and it's kind of like you have to join them.

I'm not finding myself as a CEO of an agent AI company selling to enterprises talking about the problems that those agents solve. I barely have those conversations ... It's as if the pain is clear."

With the recent round, the company has raised $134 million in four months. How did you attract investors?

"We spent the first few months going after very hard accounts ... And this managed to grab the attention of Index, and that's how we managed to raise our first round...

Also, our approach was a bit contrary ... We firmly believe that the local presence is key to being able to successfully deliver and win those markets."

Why is Wonderful not targeting the U.S. market like most startups?

"We are in discussions with multiple U.S. companies that are multinationals, and we don't have anything against selling to U.S. companies.

We just think that right now, with enterprises all over the world wanting to successfully deploy AI, we would rather focus on where we think we have an advantage because of the technological and operational muscles that we invested in."

You raised money in the summer and now just four months later. Will you raise again next year?

"I think it depends on how the next year unfolds. But let's say that if we do, it probably means that we're doing very well."

Wonderful co-founder talks agentic AI funding explosion

Agentic AI startups raised $3.3 billion in Q3

Photo illustration of Bar Winkler surrounded by abstract shapes. 

Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Courtesy of Wonderful

Don&#x27;t expect venture funding to agentic AI startups to decline, even though deal count may as VCs double down on winning companies, Wonderful co-founder and CEO Bar Winkler tells Axios Pro.Driving the news: Last week, Wonderful, an Israeli AI agent startup, raised its own massive round — a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="$100 million Series A" data-vars-click-url="https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/11/wonderful-raised-100m-series-a-to-put-ai-agents-on-the-front-lines-of-customer-service/" data-vars-content-id="5036e8cf-17c7-46a8-9a56-e246537b8c77" data-vars-headline="Wonderful co-founder talks agentic AI funding explosion" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/11/wonderful-raised-100m-series-a-to-put-ai-agents-on-the-front-lines-of-customer-service/" target="_blank">$100 million Series A</a> led by Index Ventures.

Wonderful co-founder talks agentic AI funding explosion

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