Photo by Chelaxy Designs on Unsplash
If you’ve been wondering where AI is making the biggest impact right now, here’s a clue: it’s eating up the sales and marketing space. And Clay is right in the middle of it.
The eight-year-old startup just confirmed it raised a $100 million Series C round, pushing its valuation to a huge $3.1 billion. This round was led by CapitalG, Google’s independent growth fund, and joined by a group of returning investors — Meritech Capital, Sequoia Capital, First Round Capital, BoxGroup, and Boldstart — plus a new name on the cap table: Sapphire Ventures.
That brings Clay’s total funding to $204 million. Not bad for a company that’s been steadily picking up steam over the last few years.
So what does Clay actually do?
Clay builds AI-powered tools for sales and marketing teams. The idea is to help those teams find leads, manage outreach, and close deals faster by automating the grunt work—stuff like researching contacts or crafting personalized messages.
And it’s not just smaller startups using Clay. Their customer list includes some pretty big names: OpenAI, Anthropic, Canva, Intercom, and Rippling.
That’s part of what makes this funding round so interesting. If companies at the heart of the AI boom are turning to Clay for support with sales and marketing, that’s a strong signal it’s filling a real need.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
A quick look back
This new round comes just six months after Clay’s $1.25 billion Series B, and only a couple of months after a $1.5 billion Sequoia-led tender offer that gave employees a chance to sell some of their shares.
So not only is outside interest heating up, but Clay’s team is getting some serious validation — and liquidity. Always a good sign, especially in today’s startup climate.
What’s next?
According to co-founder and CEO Kareem Amin, Clay expects to cross $100 million in revenue by the end of the year. That would be a 3x jump from last year. So yeah, things are moving fast.
With fresh capital and big growth plans, Clay isn’t slowing down. If you’re in sales or marketing, or just tracking how AI is making everyday work more efficient, keep your eye on this one.
Because while AI is often hyped for replacing jobs, companies like Clay are showing that its real value might be in making the hard parts of our jobs a whole lot easier.
Photo by Andreas Klassen on Unsplash
Keywords: Clay, AI-powered sales, marketing tools, startup funding, AI tools, business growth, Series C funding
