Close

What Close does

Close is a bootstrapped SaaS sales CRM platform founded in 2013 that serves small to mid-market B2B sales teams, primarily those running phone-first outbound workflows. The company is incorporated in California as Elastic Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas, and operates without external venture capital funding, reaching $17M ARR and 11,500+ customers through self-funding. Its go-to-market combines product-led growth (a 14-day free trial with no credit card required) with inside-sales-assisted demos for mid-market accounts, and pricing starts at $9/seat/month on a per-seat subscription model.

The platform is a unified CRM combining a native power dialer, email, SMS, WhatsApp messaging, pipeline management, reporting, native forms, sales automation, and an MCP-enabled REST API. The technical differentiator is Chloe, an autonomous AI sales agent launched to general availability in June 2026 that conducts outbound voice calls, qualifies prospects through real conversation, books meetings, sends follow-ups, and updates CRM records without human intervention. Chloe was validated in beta with 306 businesses generating 818,000+ calls to 111,000+ prospects, and the broader platform has processed 2B+ calls, emails, and texts. Underlying voice and SMS infrastructure is delivered through Twilio, with AI capabilities layered on top of ChatGPT and Claude integrations.

The customer base spans SMBs, startups, and mid-market accounts across verticals including B2B SaaS, coaching and education, financial services, insurance, outdoor/hospitality, automotive, security, and e-commerce; named customers include Hipcamp, WorkOS, Flatiron School, Reverb, ClassDojo, Simpletire, Paladin Security, FollowUp.com, Sisu, and ClientMatchmaking.com. Distribution combines direct website self-serve, sales-assisted demos, mobile apps (iOS and Android), and a developer platform, while marketing relies on content-led SEO, a weekly newsletter (Dialed In), webinars, and a Slack community. The company holds SOC 2 Type 2 certification and is GDPR and CCPA compliant, and is led by co-founder and CEO Steli Efti with a small executive bench covering sales, engineering, product, and content.

Name

Close

Legal name

Elastic Inc.

Website

https://close.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Close is a bootstrapped sales CRM platform serving SMB and mid-market B2B sales teams, combining built-in calling, email, SMS, WhatsApp, and an AI sales agent that autonomously qualifies leads, books meetings, and updates CRM records.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sales CRM Software

NAICS

Telephone Call Centers (56142)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Marketing Automation & Campaign Management CRM (HDAEAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Customer Service, Support & Contact Center CRM (HDAEAFAC), Customer Engagement & Messaging (Email, SMS, Push, In-App) (BPAFAFAI)

Keywords

• Sales CRM software
• Outbound sales platform
• Sales automation tools
• Contact management software
• AI sales assistant

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription (Seat-based): Close operates on a per-seat subscription model where customers pay based on the number of users/seats accessing the CRM platform. Pricing starts at $9/seat/month. Additional features like the Chloe AI agent may be available as add-ons or within premium tiers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Close is a sales CRM platform built for outbound sales teams that combines customer relationship management with natively built-in communication channels — calling, email, SMS, and WhatsApp — plus sales automation, pipeline management, and reporting. The product includes an AI Sales Agent called Chloe that automates manual sales work such as pipeline-building outreach, personalized follow-ups, AI call summaries, and CRM record updates, and is sold as a per-seat SaaS subscription starting at $9/seat/month.

Product overview

Close is a unified sales CRM platform built for small to mid-sized outbound sales teams, combining a comprehensive set of core products: the Close CRM as the central platform, Chloe AI Agent as the native AI-powered sales teammate, Sales Communication (email, calls, SMS, WhatsApp), Sales Automation with workflows and sequences, Lead & Pipeline Management, Power Dialer, Native Forms, Reporting, and Coaching tools. The platform is extensible through a REST API, webhooks, and MCP server for custom integrations. Additional free resources include a Revenue Growth Calculator. Pricing starts at $9/seat/month with 11,500+ businesses using the platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Chloe: AI sales agent built directly into Close CRM that calls leads, qualifies prospects, books meetings, and updates the CRM automatically.

Products and services

• Close CRM A sales CRM platform built for outbound sales teams that combines contact and pipeline management with natively built-in calling, email, SMS, and WhatsApp communications, plus automation workflows, reporting, and native forms; sold as a per-seat SaaS subscription.
• Chloe AI Sales Agent An autonomous AI sales agent built into Close CRM that automates pipeline-building outreach, personalized follow-ups, AI call summaries, and CRM record updates for outbound sales teams.
• Close REST API REST API and developer platform that allows technical teams to programmatically read and write lead, contact, activity, and custom data in Close CRM and integrate the platform with other systems.
• MCP Server for Close A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets external AI agents and assistants query and interact with Close CRM data through a standardized protocol, extending the CRM into AI-driven workflows.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50% increase in booked appointments per week
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration19 records

AI capability8 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and integration.

• TwiliocoreTechnology or IntegrationClose uses Twilio as the underlying infrastructure provider for its voice calling and SMS capabilities. The partnership involves Twilio's terms of service and numbering requirements for number-based communications services.
• ChatGPT (OpenAI)integrationTechnology or IntegrationClose integrates with ChatGPT for AI capabilities within the CRM platform.
• Claude (Anthropic)integrationTechnology or IntegrationClose integrates with Claude AI for natural language processing and AI-powered features.
• WhatsAppintegrationTechnology or IntegrationClose supports native WhatsApp messaging as part of its unified communication capabilities.
• HubSpotintegrationTechnology or IntegrationClose integrates with HubSpot for data synchronization and workflow connectivity.
• ZapierintegrationTechnology or IntegrationClose integrates with Zapier enabling connections to thousands of other applications and automations.
• Segment (Twilio)integrationTechnology or IntegrationClose integrates with Segment for customer data platform connectivity and data enrichment.
• Google CalendarintegrationTechnology or IntegrationClose integrates with Google Calendar for scheduling and calendar synchronization.
• ZoomintegrationTechnology or IntegrationClose integrates with Zoom for video meeting capabilities and scheduling links.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Salesloft: Salesloft is a sales engagement platform offering cadences, dialer, conversation intelligence, and AI-driven workflows. It competes with Close on calling, follow-up automation, and AI summarization, though typically positioned upmarket.
• Outreach: Outreach is a sales engagement platform with sequencing, calling, AI-powered deal assistance, and CRM integrations. While focused more on enterprise/mid-market, it competes with Close's automation and AI capabilities in the overlapping outbound-sales segment.
• Pipedrive: Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM targeting SMBs with pipeline management and built-in communication. It directly competes with Close in the same customer profile (small outbound sales teams) with comparable seat-based pricing and feature set.
• Freshsales (Freshworks): Freshsales is the CRM arm of Freshworks, offering built-in phone, email, AI lead scoring, and sales automation for SMB and mid-market. It is a direct competitor with comparable pricing and a similar integrated-communication thesis.
• Apollo.io: Apollo.io combines a B2B sales intelligence database with outreach, calling, and CRM-adjacent workflow tools for SDR and outbound teams. It overlaps with Close on calling, email sequences, and AI-driven prospecting, targeting the same SMB/mid-market buyer.
• Copper: Copper is a CRM built specifically for Google Workspace users, targeting small and mid-market teams. It is a direct competitor in the SMB CRM category with overlapping pipeline management and communication-light features.
• Less Annoying CRM: Less Annoying CRM is a simple, low-cost CRM explicitly targeting very small businesses and startups. It overlaps directly with Close's bottom-of-market positioning and similar simplicity-focused value proposition.

Broad incumbents

• HubSpot: HubSpot is a broad CRM and marketing platform serving SMB to enterprise. It overlaps directly with Close on CRM, email, and sales automation but operates a much larger platform with marketing, service, and CMS products, making it the most consequential competitor in Close's core SMB segment.
• Salesforce: Salesforce is the global CRM incumbent with Sales Cloud, Einstein AI, and a massive ecosystem. While Close positions against Salesforce for SMB cost reasons, Salesforce remains the default enterprise CRM and the primary incumbent Close competes against for upmarket expansion.
• Zoho CRM: Zoho CRM is part of the broader Zoho business suite, offering affordable CRM with built-in phone, email, and AI features (Zia). It competes with Close across SMB and mid-market segments, often at lower price points.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/close
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CloseCRM
• Facebookfacebook.com/closecrm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/close
• Instagraminstagram.com/close

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Close