Sometimes the most disruptive companies emerge from the simplest customer frustrations. When two UC Berkeley dropouts got tired of legacy marketing tools that couldn’t keep up with AI automation needs, they built Conversion.
What is the news?
- Conversion, an AI-powered marketing automation startup founded by UC Berkeley dropouts Neil Tewari and James Jiao, has raised $28 million in Series A funding led by Abstract, with participation from True Ventures and HOF Capital.
- The company has grown to nearly $10 million ARR over two years, with 90% of customers being midsize businesses replacing legacy marketing tools, after raising $30 million in total funding since inception.
Why is it interesting?
- Conversion’s founders spent two months conducting 160 customer interviews with VPs of marketing at 50-500 employee businesses, discovering universal pain points with existing tools that couldn’t fully automate workflows. Their AI-native approach allows features like lead organization and personalized follow-up emails that legacy platforms struggle to integrate effectively.
- Rather than competing for net-new customers, Conversion targets businesses already using older marketing tools. This displacement strategy in a crowded field shows confidence in their technical differentiation, especially as 90% of their customers have “yanked out a legacy app” to adopt their platform.
Read more: How 2 UC Berkeley dropouts raised $28M for their AI marketing automation startup