After getting universal messaging apps Beeper and Texts.com, WordPress.com owner Automattic has added another communication-focused startup to its lineup: relationship-management app Clay.Financial regards to the deal were not disclosed, however Clay had actually so far raised over $9 million in equity capital from investors like General Catalyst and Forerunner Ventures.
The tool will continue to be supported and will later be integrated with other Automattic products, like Beeper.Clays software application, launched in 2021, is something of a smarter address book or individual CRM, letting users arrange individuals they know and stay up to date with their most current updates by drawing in data from services like LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, and X, along with address books and calendars.Image Credits: ClayYou can utilize the app to stay up to date with things you would like to know about individuals, like job modifications, movings, updated bios, recent social posts, and more.
Clay likewise lets you include notes to deal with book entries, so you can note how and when you satisfied, or the names of their kids.
A timeline for each entry shows when notes were included, the last time you connected, and other times you engaged.The app later built in AI, adding an AI helper called Nexus that lets you ask questions about your network, like who you know at a specific business, or who you must connect with when going to New York.
Beyond that, the AI bot is indicated to integrate with your daily workflow.As part of the acquisition, which closed last week, Clays little team, including its co-foundersZachary HamedandMatthew Achariam, is joining Automattics Other Bets Division.
This group likewise consists of Beeper and Gravatar.Our mission [] is to assist with relationships and increase conscientiousness, Achariam said.
Thats always been our North Star, and all the features [] reinforce that by bringing these different elements of relationship management into one platform and one tool.Image Credits: ClayAutomattic stated it made good sense to buy Clay since of its capability to be incorporated into the business more comprehensive community, which today consists of the universal chat app Beeper (a merger of the Texts.com and Beeper acquisitions).
Clays founders, meanwhile, have a sense of a shared mission with Automattic, and appreciate that theyll get to continue to develop their app.
(Often, clever address book startups are consumed by their acquirer and after that regretfully unwind.)We are really thrilled about the longevity element of this, stated Hamed.
We believe that this must be something that exists beyond, like, any one company, he added.For Clay, the long-term strategy at Automattic includes incorporating with Beeper, and ultimately ending up being an identity layer for a range of different tools.
Those strategies are not completed, however, nor might Automattic dedicate to an amount of time for that progress.
It likewise wouldnt share if Clays pricing is due to change in the future.
Presently, the service is a freemium offering, with its paid strategies beginning at $10 each month, or $40 per seat, monthly for teams.Clays creators stated they believe their worths are similar to Automattics, which is why the deal made sense.One of their main values is this idea of open source, and the idea that a person of the most effective forces of our life times.
And we tend to concur, said Achariam.
Clays team is likewise interested in integrating with other open innovations moving forward, like ActivityPub, used by Mastodon, and AT Protocol, utilized by Bluesky.Clay didnt share any numbers about its user base, however it did state that its app manages over 150 million relationships.
The app is available on macOS, Windows, iOS, and web.