Automattic, owner of WordPress.com, has added another communication-focused startup to its lineup after getting Universal messaging apps Beeper and Texts.com. We have added the relationship management app Clay.
The financial terms for the transaction were not disclosed, but Clay had previously raised more than $9 million in venture capital from investors such as general catalytic and pioneering ventures. This tool will continue to be supported and will later be integrated with other Automattic products like Beeper.
Released in 2021, Clay’s software is like a smarter address book or personal CRM, allowing users to keep up with the latest updates by drawing data from services like LinkedIn, Facebook, WhatsApp, X and other services like Address Book and Calendar.
You can use the app to keep up with what you want to know about people, including job changes, relocations, updated BIOS, recent social posts, and more. Also, using Clay, you can add notes to your address book entry, for example, to know how you met your child’s name. The timeline for each entry is displayed when a note is added, when you reach for the last time, or when you get engaged again.
The app will later be built into AI and add an AI helper called Nexus. This allows you to ask questions about your network, such as people you know at a particular company, and who should connect with when you visit New York. Beyond that, AI bots aim to integrate with daily workflows.
As part of the acquisition that closed last week, Clay’s small team, including co-founders Zachary Hamed and Matthew Achariam, are joining Automattic’s other betting divisions. The group also includes Beeper and Grabber.
“Our mission (…) is to help relationships and improve our conscience,” Achariam said. “It’s always our North Star, and all the features (…) enhance it by bringing these different aspects of relationship management into one platform and one tool.”
Automattic said buying clays makes sense because of their ability to integrate into the company’s broader ecosystem. This includes today the Universal Chat App Beeper (Merger of Texts.com and Acquisition of Beeper).
Meanwhile, the founders of Clay are grateful to have a shared sense of mission with Automattic and to continue developing the app. (In many cases, smart address book startups are eaten up by the acquirers and sadly fallen.)
“We’re very excited about the longevity aspect of this,” Hamed said. “We believe this should exist beyond that, like any company,” he added.
In Clay’s case, Automattic’s long-term plan includes integration with Beeper, which ultimately leads to the identity layer of various tools.
However, these plans have not been finalized and Automattic cannot commit to a time frame for its progress. Also, if clay pricing is due to future changes, we will not share it. Currently, the service is a freemium offering, with its paid plans starting at $10 per month or $40 per seat per team month.
Clay’s founder thinks the deal makes sense because he thinks his value is similar to that of Automattic.
“One of their main spirits is this idea of open source and that it is one of the most powerful forces of our lifetimes. And we tend to agree,” Achariam says.
The Clay team is also interested in integrating with other open technologies in the future, such as ActivityPub used by Mastodon and the protocols used by Bluesky.
Clay didn’t share numbers about the user base, but said the app manages more than 150 million relationships. This app is available on MacOS, Windows, iOS, and the web.