Clay Raises $115M in Series D, Valuation Soars to $7.1B
American startup Clay, co-founded by Egyptian entrepreneur Kareem Amin, has reached a new milestone. The company recently closed a $115 million Series D round led by Wellington Management, pushing its valuation to $7.1 billion. In just over a year, Clay’s valuation has more than doubled, up from the $3.1 billion mark reached during its Series C in 2025.
Rapid Valuation Growth
This latest funding round follows a period of exceptionally rapid growth. In January 2026, Clay had already achieved a $5 billion valuation through a secondary transaction that allowed employees to sell a portion of their shares. The new raise marks another significant acceleration, occurring less than eight months later.
Founded in New York in 2017 by Kareem Amin and Nicolae Rusan, Clay initially built its identity around a distinct concept: making programming and automation accessible without requiring advanced coding skills. The startup subsequently pivoted to focus on sales and marketing teams, developing a platform designed to automate prospect research, data enrichment, and growth campaigns.
Key Metrics and Client Base
Today, Clay boasts over 17,000 clients, including tech giants and major brands such as:
- Anthropic
- OpenAI
- Stripe
- ElevenLabs
- Visa
- Siemens
- UPS
According to the company, 80% of the firms featured in the Forbes AI50 list utilize its platform.
The strong revenue growth trajectory is a key driver of investor interest. Clay reports that it quadrupled its revenue in 2025. According to co-founders Kareem Amin and Varun Anand, the company’s annualized revenue is expected to reach approximately $200 million in the current quarter, rising to around $240 million by the end of its fiscal year.
Evolving with AI Agents
Clay’s business model is evolving in parallel with the rise of AI agents. The platform no longer limits itself to providing data to sales teams; it now aims to automate a significant portion of growth work, spanning from prospect identification to campaign personalization and commercial signal tracking.
Notable use cases among its users include:
- Anthropic: Using Clay to automatically search for prospects.
- Airbnb: Identifying potential hosts for its Experiences business.
- DoorDash: Spotting businesses likely to adopt its employee dining program.
Investor Perspective and Founder Background
Wellington Management, which led this new round, believes Clay’s potential now extends beyond that of a simple sales tool. The investor had followed the startup for several years before participating in this transaction.
Kareem Amin, born in Egypt and raised in Saudi Arabia before studying electrical engineering at McGill University in Canada, now leads a multi-billion-dollar enterprise in one of the most coveted segments of the tech industry: leveraging AI to automate and accelerate commercial functions.
Future Outlook
At this stage, Clay does not plan a short-term IPO. However, its leadership team states that they are managing the company with the long-term possibility of a public listing in mind.
