The CRM market remains one of the largest segments in enterprise software, dominated for two decades by Salesforce, Microsoft, and HubSpot. While these platforms still capture the bulk of B2B budgets, they struggle to adapt to the era of artificial intelligence. It is on this basis that London-based startup Attio convinced Google Ventures (GV) and Balderton Capital to lead a new €44 million funding round, barely a year after the previous one.
Attio is developing what it calls an “AI-native” CRM, designed from the ground up to integrate intelligent agents, real-time data ingestion, and programmability. Whereas legacy solutions tend to layer AI features on top, Attio claims an architecture built entirely around that principle. For Nicolas Sharp, cofounder and CEO, the issue is structural. “CRM is one of the most important categories in B2B, but it has been stuck in the past. An AI-native CRM must be built on a completely different foundation, one that allows you to truly understand each customer, act quickly, and give teams the freedom to build go-to-market systems that scale.”
This positioning appeals to a new generation of so-called “go-to-market builders,” who want to rapidly design their own commercial systems without relying on costly integration cycles or external providers. Attio’s bet is therefore to establish itself as a programmable alternative, able to compete with incumbent CRMs on flexibility and speed of deployment. The company claims a customer base that includes several AI startups, such as Replicate, Modal, Granola, and one of today’s most talked-about companies, Lovable. It also reports being on track to quadruple its annual recurring revenue this year.
For GV, the investment reflects a conviction that a generational shift is underway. Michael McBride, partner at GV and former Chief Revenue Officer of GitLab, is joining Attio’s board. “For twenty-five years, CRM—one of the largest software markets—has not experienced a true platform shift. Attio has the AI-native architecture, the vision, and the rapid customer growth to define the future of CRM and go-to-market software.”
Since its founding in 2023, Attio has raised a total of €99 million from investors including GV, Balderton Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Point Nine, and 01A. The new funding will be used to strengthen engineering, accelerate product development, and more broadly target commercial teams in the next generation of SaaS companies.
