The French start-up has developed a solution to map and qualify companies that escape traditional prospecting tools.
First round of funding for Leadbay. This start-up French company that passed through the famous Y Combinator incubator and has developed artificial intelligence to improve commercial prospecting, announced on May 19 a fundraising of $4.2 million. The operation was led by Rebel Fund, Progressive VC, Bright Data Ventures, Inovexus, Roosh Ventures, Y Combinator and Station F. Some business angels also participated in the round.
Concretely, Leadbay’s solution aims to map and qualify companies that go under the radar of traditional prospecting tools. “The heart of the real economy relies on millions of artisans, SMEs and mid-caps who are invisible. There is a gap between the world of tech and these poorly digitalized companies which remain difficult to identify,” indicates Ludovic Granger, CEO and co-founder.
“Our AI makes it possible to find and qualify companies that have few market signals for the sales and marketing teams. It is capable of working with poor data and connects to our clients’ CRM and ERP,” explains the manager. For its major account clients, Leadbay provides in-house engineers to support teams in using the solution. Note that since January, the start-up has opened an office in San Francisco: “Garry Tan, the CEO of Y Combinator, told us that our solution could be very successful in the United States”.
Freemium model
Leadbay’s AI is available for free on its website. For companies with more advanced needs, there are paid offers whose price can reach 400 euros per month maximum. The start-up generates 90% of its turnover from major accounts including Saint-Gobain, L’Oréal and Gerflor. “However, the majority of our users are smaller companies. Nearly 150 companies register on our platform every week.”
The fundraising should allow Leadbay “to accelerate on the French market and really launch into the United States”. The start-up, which currently has around ten employees, also wants to strengthen its teams: “We are going to recruit engineers and sales directors. Our workforce should double by the end of the year,” concludes Ludovic Granger.
