The lead generation sector is being reshaped by artificial intelligence, with many companies focusing on automating customer outreach. This has attracted large investments into platforms that help sales teams find and qualify leads more efficiently.
Established players like Apollo.io have secured significant funding, raising over $251M for its data intelligence platform. Meanwhile, recent entrants such as Spara are also making an impact with fresh approaches to AI-driven sales.
Below is our list of 27 Lead Generation startups worth keeping an eye on.
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Get the Sheet for $50Clay builds an AI-driven platform that automates sales prospecting by connecting data from hundreds of sources. Sales and growth teams use its powerful workflows to find, enrich, and engage with leads without writing any code.
| Headquarters | New York, New York, United States |
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Kareem Amin, Nicolae Rusan, Varun Anand |
| Funding Amount | $202M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | BoxGroup, Sapphire Ventures, Sequoia Capital, First Round Capital, Meritech Capital Partners |
Apollo.io operates a sales intelligence platform that combines a massive B2B contact database with a full suite of engagement tools. This helps go-to-market teams find their ideal customers and automate outreach to build a stronger sales pipeline.
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Ray Li, Roy Chung, Tim Zheng |
| Funding Amount | $251.3M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series D |
| Top Investors | Sequoia Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Tribe Capital, Y Combinator, Bain Capital Ventures |
Spara offers a go-to-market AI platform that automates lead engagement, qualification, and conversion. Their AI agents operate across various channels to help sales teams streamline their pipeline and close more deals.
| Headquarters | New York, New York, United States |
| Year Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | Alexander Pease, David Walker |
| Funding Amount | $15M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Seed |
| Top Investors | Radical Ventures, FJ Labs, Inspired Capital Partners, XYZ Venture Capital, Remarkable Ventures |
Hyperbound has built an AI sales coaching platform that uses generative AI for realistic role-play simulations. Their tool helps enterprise revenue teams upskill and prepare for real-world customer interactions.
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | Atul Raghunathan, Sriharsha Guduguntla |
| Funding Amount | $18.3M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series A |
| Top Investors | Peak XV Partners, Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, Team Ignite Ventures, Roble Ventures |
Crunchbase operates a predictive intelligence platform that uses AI to help users discover and track private companies. Sales teams and investors rely on its live company data for prospecting, market research, and identifying industry trends.
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2007 |
| Founders | Michael Arrington |
| Funding Amount | $106.5M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series D |
| Top Investors | Emergence Capital, 8VC, Mayfield Fund, SV Angel, Salesforce Ventures |
HG Insights provides a market intelligence platform that gives B2B companies a better way to analyze their markets and target prospects. The company uses advanced data science to provide deep insights into technology usage and buying signals, giving sales and marketing teams a competitive advantage.
| Headquarters | Santa Barbara, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2010 |
| Founders | Craig Harris |
| Funding Amount | $18.3M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | Bonfire Ventures, Riverwood Capital, EPIC Ventures, Updata Partners, Rincon Venture Partners |
Birdeye built an all-in-one marketing platform that helps multi-location businesses manage their online reputation and customer experience. Their software consolidates everything from customer reviews and web chat to referrals and payments into a single dashboard.
| Headquarters | Palo Alto, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2012 |
| Founders | Naveen Gupta, Neeraj Gupta |
| Funding Amount | $93M |
| Startup Size | Major Organization (1,001-5,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | Accel-KKR, Block, Trinity Ventures, World Innovation Lab, AME Cloud Ventures |
Affinity has created a relationship intelligence platform to help dealmakers manage their professional networks and automate data entry. Their system uses AI to analyze communication data, revealing relationship insights that help teams find and close more deals.
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2014 |
| Founders | Drew Oetting, Ray Zhou, Shubham Goel |
| Funding Amount | $120M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | Pear VC, Menlo Ventures, 8VC, MassMutual Ventures, Next Play Capital |
Kajabi builds an all-in-one platform that helps creators monetize their knowledge through online courses, coaching, and membership sites. The software provides integrated tools for website building, marketing, and payment processing, allowing users to manage their entire business in one place.
| Headquarters | Irvine, California, United States |
| Year Founded | 2009 |
| Founders | Kenny Rueter, Travis Rosser |
| Funding Amount | $550M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | TPG, Spectrum Equity, Meritech Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, Owl Rock Capital |
Formstack develops a no-code workplace productivity platform designed to help organizations automate manual processes. Their suite of tools allows teams to collect data through online forms, generate documents, and capture electronic signatures.
| Headquarters | Fishers, Indiana, United States |
| Year Founded | 2006 |
| Founders | Ade Olonoh |
| Funding Amount | $425M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | Alumni Ventures, BoxGroup, Goodwater Capital, Techstars, Slow Ventures |
17 Additional Lead Generation Startups Worth Following
Our top ten picks are just a small part of the story. Many other founders are building new tools, particularly in AI and enterprise software, and have collectively raised over $200 million.
Some of these companies are brand new, while others are already well established. Here’s a look at the other startups shaping the lead generation space.
