About Q.ai
Q.ai was an Israeli artificial-intelligence research company founded in 2022 by Aviad Maizels, Yonatan Wexler and Avi Barliya. The company operated in stealth and did not publicly market a product or report sales before its acquisition. Contemporary reporting described its work as combining imaging, machine learning and communication technology, while Aleph said Apple prohibited disclosure of what had been built. Patent analysis cited by Globes indicated methods for interpreting facial expressions, lip movement and throat vibrations, but that reporting remained an inference about the product's application. Aleph was among its earliest backers, and managing partner Eden Shochat joined the board. GV co-led the seed financing with Aleph, while Kleiner Perkins and Spark later co-led a Series A. Apple acquired Q.ai in January 2026, after which the company's technology and team became part of Apple.
Founded
2022
HQ
Website
Status
Acquired
Customer focus
B2B
Revenue model
Subscription
Valuation
$2B (acquired Jan 2026)
Q.ai Acquisition
Q.ai was acquired by Apple for $2B on 29 January 2026.
| Acquirer | Date | Type | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Jan 2026 | Strategic M&A | $2B |
Q.ai Funding History
Q.ai has raised 1 funding round.
| Date | Stage | Investors | Deal Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2022 | Seed | Aleph (lead) | Aleph made an early investment in Q.ai in 2022 and later disclosed that it had co-led the company's seed financing with GV. Q.ai was founded in 2022 by Aviad Maizels, Yonatan Wexler and Avi Barliya and operated in stealth on imaging, machine-learning and communications research. Aleph managing partner Eden Shochat joined the board and wrote that the company needed substantial runway as a genuine research operation. Aleph first publicly confirmed its investment only after Apple acquired Q.ai in January 2026. That Apple acquisition is already recorded in the live database as deal c83aceae-5a03-4a98-aeba-a7b1336ad02b and is not duplicated by this finding. |
Who has invested in Q.ai?
1 investor has backed Q.ai across its funding rounds, including Aleph.
Lead investors include Aleph.
Q.ai Investors
| Investor | HQ | Rounds | Role | First check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 1 Q.ai investors. Start Free Trial | ||||
Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples
Sign up to see data on 350K+ funding rounds and disclosed revenue and EBITDA valuation multiples, from seed, through growth stage, to pre-IPO.
Start Free TrialQ.ai Competitors
Q.ai competitors include listed companies like SoundHound and iFlytek, and private ones like Simile, Cloudinary, d-Matrix and DeepL.
| Company | HQ | Status | Revenue | EBITDA | Valuation | Revenue Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private | - | - | $2B | - | ||
| Publicly listed | $169M | $19M | $2B | 7.6x | ||
| Publicly listed | $4.1B | $468M | $14B | 3.4x | ||
| Private | $100M | - | $2B | 20.0x | ||
| Private | - | - | $2B | - | ||
| Private | $50M | - | $2B | - |
Q.ai Public Comps
Q.ai is no longer listed, but its public comps include Infleqtion, SoundHound, Five9, Calix, C3.ai, Haizhi, TRS Information Technology, Weaver Network, Ncino and PCITECH.
| Last FY | EV/Revenue | EV/EBITDA | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | EBITDA | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | Last FY | LTM | 2027E | |
| $29M | ($52M) | 53.4x | 35.6x | (29.5x) | (29.6x) | |||
| $169M | $19M | 10.7x | 7.6x | 97.2x | (24.6x) | |||
| $1.1B | $91M | 1.9x | 1.8x | 24.4x | 7.2x | |||
| $1B | $38M | 1.8x | 1.5x | 45.6x | 11.1x | |||
| $250M | ($484M) | 4.9x | 5.2x | (2.5x) | (7.5x) | |||
| $93M | ($30M) | 17.3x | 12.1x | (54.1x) | (54.4x) | |||
| $77M | ($20M) | 19.8x | 20.3x | (75.2x) | 493.0x | |||
| $343M | $44M | 4.3x | 4.0x | 33.8x | 26.7x | |||
This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Q.ai competitors and their valuation data. Start Free Trial | ||||||||
Common questions about Q.ai
| When was Q.ai founded? | Q.ai was founded in 2022. |
| Where is Q.ai headquartered? | Q.ai is headquartered in Israel. |
| Is Q.ai publicly listed? | No, Q.ai was acquired by Apple in January 2026. |
| Who acquired Q.ai? | Q.ai was acquired by Apple in January 2026. |
| How much was Q.ai acquired for? | Q.ai was acquired for $2B in January 2026. |
| What was Q.ai's last funding round? | Q.ai's last funding round was a seed round in January 2022, led by Aleph. |
| Who are Q.ai's investors? | Q.ai's investors include Aleph. |
| Which companies are comparable to Q.ai? | Companies comparable to Q.ai include Simile, SoundHound, iFlytek, Cloudinary, d-Matrix and DeepL. |
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