Clay, an AI-powered sales and marketing startup, has raised $115 million in new funding, pushing its valuation to $7.1 billion—more than double its August 2025 round. The funding round was led by Wellington Management, with participation from Sequoia Capital, A16Z Perennial, DST Global, and Capital G. The investment highlights growing investor confidence in AI startups that are scaling rapidly while eyeing potential IPOs.

Over the past year, Clay has focused on developing autonomous AI agents that automate growth plans, identify promising customers, and strategize outreach. Alfred Lin, a partner at Sequoia, described Clay’s evolution into a "self-learning engine." The company is on track to reach $240 million in annualized revenue by year-end and expects to double that figure next year.

Clay has attracted major clients including Anthropic, Airbnb, and DoorDash. These enterprise customers use Clay’s tools to identify leads and scale outreach efforts. Varun Anand, Clay’s head of operations, noted the company’s focus on landing larger clients while maintaining low cash burn—even achieving brief profitability this year.

Rob Mazzoni of Wellington Management said the investment opportunity was massive and transcended traditional sales tools. He noted that Wellington typically invests in companies two to five years from an IPO. While Clay isn’t planning an IPO immediately, founders Kareem Amin and Varun Anand are running the company with that trajectory in mind.