Clay, the New York-based sales automation company, has secured a new financing round, pushing its valuation up to around $3 billion. The Series C round was led by CapitalG, according to several people familiar with the matter. Both Clay and CapitalG have declined to comment on the deal.
The latest investment comes only a month after Clay announced a secondary transaction that allowed most employees to sell a portion of their shares at a valuation of approximately $1.5 billion. That tender offer, led by Sequoia Capital, enabled employees to liquidate up to $20 million worth of their shares. While some employees may appear to have exited at a lower valuation than current levels, Clay CEO and co-founder Kareem Amin suggested a month ago that the company aims to hold such employee liquidity events annually. This presumably gives workers another opportunity to sell shares when the company’s valuation could rise further.
Launched in 2017, Clay found its footing more recently after Amin led a strategic shift toward empowering sales and marketing professionals through artificial intelligence. The company’s platform aids sales teams by providing data-driven insights for targeting potential customers and automating personalized outreach campaigns.
Today, Clay’s customer base has grown significantly, including major enterprise names like OpenAI, HubSpot, Canva, as well as over a hundred smaller consultancies that leverage the platform to streamline their client outreach strategies. Currently, Clay competes with established sales technology players like ZoomInfo, Apollo.io, and Lusha, and also faces emerging competitors such as Unify and Common Room.
Besides CapitalG and Sequoia, Clay’s roster of previous backers includes Meritech Capital, Boldstart Ventures, Maple VC, First Round Capital, and Box Group.
