Clay

Clay is an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered software platform designed to centralize and streamline data enrichment, customer research, and automation processes for go-to-market (GTM) teams focused on sales and marketing. As of 2025, the company has reached a valuation of $1.25 billion and is used by organizations such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Notion, Vanta, and Rippling. Clay enables firms to build total addressable market (TAM) lists, generate custom scoring models, and execute GTM campaigns based on enriched data.

Core Features and Technology Infrastructure

Clay integrates over 100 data providers and its proprietary AI Research Agent, which performs multi-source data enrichment. The platform aggregates and analyzes data such as firmographics, tech stacks, job postings, and funding news. It enables users to define custom categories and scores. The AI agents automate traditionally manual research tasks, such as summarizing open web text, detecting spoofed domains, classifying job ads, and enriching data for small businesses.

Key technical features include:

• Direct CRM (Customer Relationship Management) integrations
• AI-driven conditional logic and custom formula building
• Natural language-based computations
• Chrome extension for collecting lead data directly from the web

Use Cases and Application Scenarios

Clay primarily serves sales and marketing teams by accelerating workflows such as:

• CRM data enrichment and updating
• Target account list building and segmentation
• Triggering campaigns based on intent signals (e.g., funding rounds)
• Lead prioritization for sales representatives
• Automation of SDR (Sales Development Representative) workflows

Customers

Clay is actively used by more than 300,000 sales and GTM professionals. Its users report significant efficiency gains by automating research and enrichment processes. Companies such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Vanta, Notion, Rippling, Sendoso, and Baseten have integrated Clay into their GTM pipelines. Real-time bi-directional CRM syncing ensures data remains current and actionable.

Company Growth and Investors

In early 2025, Clay closed its Series B funding round at a $1.25 billion valuation. Investors include Sequoia Capital and Meritech Capital, along with individual backers such as Maggie Hott (GTM lead at OpenAI), Stevie Case (CRO at Vanta), and Scott Belsky (CPO at Adobe). The company has been named the top mid-stage company on the Enterprise Tech 30 list and was the only GTM-focused startup included in Forbes' 2025 AI 50.

Organization and Community

Headquartered in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, Clay operates with a diverse team of software engineers, data scientists, GTM engineers, and product designers. The platform also offers Clay University, a hub of online resources and templates to help users maximize their efficiency and platform knowledge.

Security and Compliance

Clay complies with industry-standard data security protocols, including SOC 2 Type II, and is aligned with GDPR and CCPA regulations. The company is also in the process of obtaining ISO 27001 certification to further ensure information security management.