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.
Monetary phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed, however Clay had thus far raised over $9 million in enterprise capital from buyers like Common Catalyst and Forerunner Ventures. The instrument 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 wiser handle e book or private CRM, letting customers manage the folks they know and sustain with their newest updates by pulling in information from companies like LinkedIn, Fb, WhatsApp and X, in addition to handle books and calendars.
Picture Credit:Clay
You should utilize 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 deal with e book entries, so you may word how and once you met, or the names of their youngsters, as an example. A timeline for every entry exhibits when notes have been added, the final time you reached out, and different instances you engaged.
The app later in-built AI, including an AI helper known as Nexus that permits you to ask questions on your community, like who you understand at a selected firm, or who it’s best to join with when visiting New York. Past that, the AI bot is supposed to combine together with your day by day workflow.
As a part of the acquisition, which closed final week, Clay’s small group, together with its co-founders Zachary Hamed and Matthew would discoveris becoming a member of Automattic.
“Our mission (…) is to assist with relationships and enhance conscientiousness,” Achariam mentioned. “That’s all the time been our North Star, and all of the options (…) reinforce that by bringing these totally different facets of relationship administration into one platform and one instrument.”
Picture Credit:Clay
Automattic mentioned it made sense to purchase Clay due to its capacity to be built-in into the corporate’s broader ecosystem, which at present 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 admire that they’ll get to proceed to develop their app. (Typically, sensible handle e book startups are eaten up by their acquirer after which sadly wound down.)
“We’re very excited concerning the longevity side of this,” mentioned Hamed. “We consider that this must be one thing that exists past, like, anyone firm,” he added.
For Clay, the long-term plan at Automattic consists of integrating with Beeper, and in the end changing into an id layer for quite a lot of totally different instruments.
These plans are usually not finalized, nevertheless, nor might Automattic decide to a time-frame for that progress. It additionally wouldn’t share if Clay’s pricing is because of change sooner or later. At present, the service is a freemium providing, with its paid plans beginning at $10 per 30 daysor $40 per seat, per 30 days for groups.
Clay’s founders mentioned they consider their values are much like Automattic’s, which is why the deal made sense.
“One in all their important ethos is this concept of open supply, and the concept that’s some of the highly effective forces of our lifetimes. And we are inclined to agree,” mentioned Achariam.
Clay’s group can be involved in 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 userbase, however it did say that its app manages over 150 million relationships. The app is offered on macOS, Home windows, iOS, and internet.
