After buying common messaging apps Beeper and Texts.com, WordPress.com proprietor Automattic has added one other communication-focused startup to its lineup: relationship-management app Clay.
Financial phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed, however Clay had to this point raised over $9 million in enterprise capital from buyers like General Catalyst and Forerunner Ventures. The software will proceed to be supported and can later be built-in with different Automattic merchandise, like Beeper.
Clay’s software program, launched in 2021, is one thing of a better tackle e book or private CRM, letting customers set up the folks they know and sustain with their newest updates by pulling in knowledge from companies like LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, and X, in addition to tackle books and calendars.
You can use the app to maintain up with stuff you wish to find out about folks, like job adjustments, relocations, up to date bios, current social posts, and extra. Clay additionally permits you to add notes to handle e book entries, so you possibly can word how and once you met, or the names of their youngsters, for example. A timeline for every entry reveals when notes have been added, the final time you reached out, and different instances you engaged.
The app later inbuilt AI, including an AI helper known as Nexus that permits you to ask questions on your community, like who you understand at a specific firm, or who you must join with when visiting New York. Beyond that, the AI bot is supposed to combine along with your each day workflow.
As a part of the acquisition, which closed final week, Clay’s small staff, together with its co-founders Zachary Hamed and Matthew Achariam, is becoming a member of Automattic’s Other Bets Division. This group additionally consists of Beeper and Gravatar.
“Our mission […] is to assist with relationships and enhance conscientiousness,” Achariam mentioned. “That’s at all times been our North Star, and all of the options […] reinforce that by bringing these totally different points of relationship administration into one platform and one software.”
Automattic mentioned it made sense to purchase Clay due to its skill to be built-in into the corporate’s broader ecosystem, which as we speak consists of the common chat app Beeper (a merger of the Texts.com and Beeper acquisitions).
Clay’s founders, in the meantime, have a way of a shared mission with Automattic, and respect that they’ll get to proceed to develop their app. (Often, sensible tackle e book startups are eaten up by their acquirer after which sadly wound down.)
“We are very excited concerning the longevity side of this,” mentioned Hamed. “We consider that this ought to be one thing that exists past, like, anybody firm,” he added.
For Clay, the long-term plan at Automattic consists of integrating with Beeper, and finally turning into an id layer for a wide range of totally different instruments.
Those plans aren’t finalized, nonetheless, nor may Automattic decide to a timeframe for that progress. It additionally wouldn’t share if Clay’s pricing is because of change sooner or later. Currently, the service is a freemium providing, with its paid plans beginning at $10 per thirty days, or $40 per seat, per thirty days for groups.
Clay’s founders mentioned they consider their values are much like Automattic’s, which is why the deal made sense.
“One of their most important ethos is this concept of open supply, and the concept that’s probably the most highly effective forces of our lifetimes. And we are inclined to agree,” mentioned Achariam.
Clay’s staff can also be focused on integrating with different open applied sciences going ahead, like ActivityPub, utilized by Mastodon, and AT Protocol, utilized by Bluesky.
Clay didn’t share any numbers about its person base, nevertheless it did say that its app manages over 150 million relationships. The app is offered on macOS, Windows, iOS, and internet.
