Startups in sales, marketing and customer relationship management raised $7.5 billion globally this year across 830 funding rounds, Crunchbase data shows. At the current pace, total funding 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, signalling a market where investors are directing larger sums into fewer companies. Total funding remains well below peak years: the sector topped $27 billion in 2022 and nearly $41 billion in 2021.
AI-focused companies are capturing a significantly larger share of that shrinking pie. Most sales, marketing and CRM investment this year has flowed to startups in Crunchbase's AI-related categories, reflecting investor appetite for automation tools that help businesses find customers and retain existing ones.
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The largest funding round so far this year went to AppsFlyer, which raised more than $1 billion in a June Series E led by Moloco with participation from Google, Meta and Unity. The San Francisco-based marketing measurement company, whose products now include AI agents that analyse campaign data and automate workflows, was valued at $2.7 billion.
AI-native customer service firm Parloa secured a $350 million Series D led by General Catalyst in January, tripling its valuation to $3 billion. The Berlin-based company builds AI agents that handle customer conversations across phone and digital channels.
Other notable raises include restaurant financing platform inKind Capital, which announced $450 million in new capital in February without disclosing a lead investor or valuation. Online marketplace Whop received a $200 million strategic investment from Tether in February at a $1.6 billion valuation. Dubai-based property platform Property Finder raised $170 million in January equity backing led by Mubadala, with participation from another UAE sovereign wealth fund and BECO Capital.
Clay, an AI-powered sales automation startup, announced a $115 million Series D on September 9 at a $7.1 billion valuation — more than double the $3.1 billion it achieved in an August 2025 round. Wellington led the latest raise, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz's a16z Perennial arm, CapitalG and BoxGroup. The company said revenue grew four-fold in 2025 and that it expects to reach $200 million in annual recurring revenue this quarter and $240 million by fiscal year-end.
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Public exits remain rare. Mobile advertising company Liftoff began trading on the Nasdaq in June, selling 19 million shares at $23 each to raise $437 million and valuing the Redwood City-based firm at $3.83 billion.
Acquisitions dominate the exit landscape. Dutch payments firm Adyen acquired Berlin loyalty and promotions platform Talon.One in July for about $880 million; Talon had previously raised over $120 million in venture funding. Other 2026 M&A deals include Zoom's acquisition of Seattle sales intelligence startup Common Room, HubSpot's purchase of website-visitor identification firm Warmly, Apollo.io's buy of prospecting platform Pocus, Pipedrive's acquisition of Estonian data integrator Outfunnel, and Adobe's team-and-technology deal for India-based Rilo.
