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Clay, an AI-powered sales automation platform, has officially closed a $100 million Series C funding round at a $3.1 billion valuation, marking another major milestone in its rapid growth trajectory. The round was led by CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund, and confirms TechCrunch’s earlier June report about the deal.

This latest infusion comes just six months after Clay’s $1.25 billion Series B and shortly after a $1.5 billion Sequoia-led tender offer, which allowed the majority of employees to liquidate part of their equity. In total, Clay has now raised $204 million since its founding in 2016—an impressive capital accumulation for an eight-year-old SaaS startup.

Heavyweight Backing From Silicon Valley’s Best

The Series C attracted strong participation from existing investors, including Meritech Capital, Sequoia Capital, First Round Capital, BoxGroup, and Boldstart Ventures. The round also welcomed new investor Sapphire Ventures, signaling broad confidence in Clay’s long-term potential.

CapitalG’s involvement is notable, given the fund’s track record of backing category-defining companies such as Stripe, Duolingo, and Robinhood. For Clay, this partnership could open up strategic opportunities to scale internationally and further deepen its AI capabilities.

AI-Powered Sales Enablement

Clay’s platform uses AI-driven prospecting, lead enrichment, and workflow automation to help sales teams and marketers operate more efficiently. By integrating directly with CRMs, data sources, and communication tools, Clay enables sales teams to personalize outreach at scale—something traditionally labor-intensive and error-prone.

The startup already counts some of the world’s most prominent tech companies among its customers, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Canva, Intercom, and Rippling. These relationships not only validate Clay’s technology but also place it at the center of the AI-powered go-to-market ecosystem.

Hypergrowth in Revenue

In an interview with The New York Times, Clay’s co-founder and CEO Kareem Amin announced that the company aims to reach $100 million in revenue by the end of 2025—three times more than last year. This rapid growth, especially in the competitive sales tech industry, indicates that Clay is aiming to establish itself as a long-term leader in the field.

Amin credits the company’s acceleration to its ability to “turn sales data into actionable intelligence” using AI models, giving teams the ability to target the right prospects at the right moment with precision.

Positioning in a Shifting Market

The sales automation market is experiencing a wave of consolidation and innovation, driven largely by the rise of generative AI and data enrichment tools. Clay’s growth comes at a time when sales teams face mounting pressure to do more with less—streamlining processes while driving higher conversion rates.

Competitors in the space, such as Outreach, Apollo, and ZoomInfo, are also racing to integrate AI features, but Clay’s rapid funding cycles and high-profile customer base suggest it’s outpacing many incumbents in adoption speed and perceived value.

The Road Ahead

With fresh capital, Clay plans to double down on AI research, product development, and go-to-market expansion. Strategic hires, enhanced integrations, and possibly international market entries are likely on the roadmap.

If the company maintains its growth rate, Clay could be one of the rare SaaS startups to reach unicorn status and scale into multi-billion-dollar territory in under a decade, setting the stage for a potential IPO in the next few years.