AI Startups Capture Growing Share of $7.5B Sales Tech Funding

Sales, marketing and CRM startups have raised $7.5 billion across 830 funding rounds so far in 2026, according to Crunchbase data. At the current pace, the sector could finish near the $9.3 billion raised in both 2023 and 2024, though potentially below last year's $11.1 billion. Deal volume is on track to fall for a fourth consecutive year, pointing to a market where investors put more money into fewer companies.

The gap with the boom years is stark. In 2022, sector funding topped $27 billion. In 2021, it totaled nearly $41 billion — more than five times this year's likely total.

AI-focused companies now capture most of the money. Most sales, marketing and CRM investment is going to companies in Crunchbase AI-related categories, a much larger share than during the prior funding peak, when bets were spread far more widely across the sector.

Which companies landed the biggest rounds?

The largest recipient was AppsFlyer. The San Francisco-based marketing measurement company raised more than $1 billion in a June Series E from Moloco, Google, Meta and Unity, at a valuation of $2.7 billion. Its products now include AI agents that analyze marketing data and automate tasks.

Other notable deals this year:

• Parloa, a Berlin-based AI-native customer service company, raised a $350 million Series D in January led by General Catalyst. The round tripled its valuation to $3 billion.
• inKind Capital, an Austin-based restaurant financing and rewards platform, announced $450 million in new capital in February. It did not identify a lead investor or disclose a valuation.
• Whop, a New York-based online marketplace for digital products, communities and courses, received a $200 million strategic investment from Tether in February at a $1.6 billion valuation.
• Property Finder, a Dubai-based property listings platform, raised a $170 million equity investment in January led by Mubadala, with participation from another UAE sovereign wealth fund and BECO Capital.
• Clay, an AI-powered sales automation startup, raised a $115 million Series D on Sept. 9 at a $7.1 billion valuation — more than double the $3.1 billion valuation from its $100 million Series C in August 2025. Wellington led, with Sequoia Capital, StepStone, a16z Perennial, CapitalG and BoxGroup participating.

Clay said the raise followed 4x revenue growth in 2025. The company told Crunchbase News it is on track to hit $200 million in ARR this quarter and $240 million by the end of the fiscal year.

What do exits look like?

The sector has produced one notable public offering. Liftoff Mobile, a Redwood City, California-based mobile advertising and app-marketing company, began trading on the Nasdaq in June. It sold 19 million shares at $23 each, raising $437 million. The IPO valued Liftoff at $3.83 billion, based on outstanding shares disclosed in its prospectus.

Most exits are coming through acquisitions instead, as larger companies buy specialized products to bolt onto their platforms. The largest known deal was Adyen's July acquisition of Talon.One, a Berlin-based loyalty and promotions platform, for about $880 million. Talon had previously raised over $120 million in venture funding.

Other 2026 M&A deals in the sector:

• Zoom acquired Seattle-based sales intelligence startup Common Room in July.
• HubSpot agreed in June to acquire Warmly, whose software identifies and contacts website visitors.
• Apollo.io acquired Pocus, which helps sales teams find prospective customers based on product use, in March.
• Pipedrive acquired Estonian startup Outfunnel, which connects sales and marketing data, in August.
• Adobe acquired India-based marketing intelligence startup Rilo in September through a team and technology deal.

Most of these acquisition prices were not disclosed.

What does the pattern mean for founders?

Investors have not lost interest in sales and marketing startups, but they are concentrating capital in a smaller number of winners, most of them AI-native. Companies that help businesses find customers, increase sales or retain existing business are still landing large checks and attracting buyers. Yet with acquisitions far more common than IPOs, a public-market exit in this sector remains much harder to come by than a strategic sale.