Whereas a companion at a VC agency, Nicolas Sharp took on the challenge of discovering buyer relationship administration (CRM) software program for the agency. The method, he says, was “a nightmare,” main him to construct a CRM platform that would meet his — and his firm’s — wants.
“I turned a developer by night time and a VC by day,” Sharp informed robotechcompany.com through electronic mail. “After just a few months, I left the enterprise world to proceed the challenge.”
“The challenge” morphed into Attio, a CRM platform that mixes a performant knowledge mannequin with the collaboration capabilities sometimes present in no-code software program. Based in 2019, Attio caught on rapidly, in line with Sharp — crossing the $1 million annual recurring income mark in December 2022.
Attio has greater than 2,000 clients in over 100 international locations immediately. And it’s elevating capital, simply this morning asserting that it secured $23.5 million in a Collection A spherical led by Redpoint Ventures with continued participation from Balderton Capital.
To this point, 25-employee Attio has raised $31.2 million.
“Regardless of the present macroeconomic local weather, we’re in a superb place proper now. We now have a number of years of runway and are well-positioned to construct what we actually must construct,” Sharp stated.
The Attio interface, desk view. Picture Credit: Attio
Like most CRMs, Attio’s platform creates a database of contacts and corporations {that a} enterprise frequently interacts with. It permits customers to type, filter and analyze buyer data in addition to take notes and create workflows, mechanically updating particulars like contact info.
“If you use Attio for the primary time, it syncs together with your electronic mail and calendar and creates a view of your buyer relationships with profiles, timelines of interactions and conversations, entry to emails and intelligence on the energy of every relationship,” Sharp defined. “You may also join some other knowledge supply to Attio by way of our API. From there, you’ll be able to type by way of and filter these data and construct workflows for various industries, use instances or situations.”
Sharp isn’t unaware of the truth that the CRM recreation has critical competitors, Salesforce apart. Gameball, a buyer intelligence and advertising and marketing CRM platform, lately emerged from stealth with $3.5 million in enterprise backing. A bigger rival is Glia, valued at over $1 billion, which is growing an AI-based CRM that lets brokers get hands-on to assist.
Sharp sees Attio’s efficiency — and worth ($119 per consumer monthly on the excessive finish) — as its key differentiators. Legacy CRMs, he avers, might be very highly effective with advanced knowledge fashions, but additionally gradual to deploy and dear. In the meantime, CRM startups and in-house CRMs present a greater, stabler expertise, however include extra simplistic and inflexible fashions.
“There have been loads of startups which have tried to problem within the CRM house,” Sharp stated. “Nonetheless, the truth that even with all of those choices so many individuals are nonetheless in ‘DIY mode’ and so sad with their CRM means there’s loads of house for disruption.”
Attio, not resting on its laurels, quickly plans to launch a real-time reporting characteristic that’ll enable customers to slice, manipulate and visualize buyer data. Different capabilities within the works embody expanded workflow automation.
“The largest problem that CRM is dealing with is that the business is dominated by one firm. Consequently, the present state of CRM is almost the identical because it was over 20 years in the past,” Sharp stated. “That’s why startups choose to run on a spreadsheet for so long as they will. The Attio philosophy, which units it aside from different CRMs, is that it’s designed to be versatile and adaptable, capable of meet companies the place they’re of their journey and develop with them as they scale.”
