Actively AI Raises $22.5M to Offer Sales ‘Superintelligence,’ Declares AI SDRs a Failure
April 2, 2025 – New York-based startup Actively AI has secured $22.5 million in funding to redefine the role of artificial intelligence in sales, touting a new approach it calls “GTM Superintelligence.” The company, founded by Stanford AI researchers Mihir Garimella and Anshul Ramachandran, announced today that it raised $17.5 million in a Series A round led by Bain Capital Ventures, following a previously undisclosed $5 million seed round from First Round Capital. The infusion of capital, revealed exclusively to TechCrunch, brings Actively AI’s total funding to $22.5 million and signals a bold pivot away from the much-hyped AI Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) that the startup claims have “failed” to deliver meaningful results.
Actively AI’s mission is to move beyond the limitations of existing AI sales tools, which it argues have been stuck in a cycle of automation and shallow insights. “AI SDRs promised a revolution but ended up as glorified email bots,” Garimella, the company’s CEO, told reporters. “They’ve failed to replicate the nuanced decision-making of top human reps. We’re building something different—GTM Superintelligence that doesn’t just assist but actively drives revenue with reasoning-driven precision.” The startup’s platform leverages a mix of in-house AI models and advanced reasoning frameworks from industry leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic, aiming to analyze millions of data points and guide sales teams toward high-quality pipeline opportunities.
The funding announcement comes at a time when the sales tech landscape is crowded with AI-driven solutions, many of which focus on automating outreach tasks like cold emails and call scheduling. Actively AI contends that these tools, often marketed as AI SDRs, have fallen short of expectations, delivering incremental gains rather than transformative growth. “The data backs us up,” said co-founder Ramachandran. “Our clients have seen pipeline quality improve by double digits and revenue growth in the hundreds of millions because we’re not chasing volume—we’re pinpointing what works.”
The Series A round attracted high-profile investors, including Bain Capital Ventures’ Ajay Agarwal, who praised Actively AI’s departure from the pack. “Unlike other sales tools that promise AI capabilities but offer only incremental insights, Actively’s platform replicates how best-in-class SDRs and account executives thoroughly analyze an account,” Agarwal said in a statement. “It frees users to spend more time engaging qualified prospects.” First Round Capital, which led the seed round, also participated, joined by angel investors like Jason Boehmig (CEO of Ironclad) and Frederic Kerrest (co-founder of Okta).
Actively AI’s client roster already includes fast-growing companies like Ramp, Ironclad, Attentive, Dialpad, and Verkada, which collectively attribute hundreds of millions in added revenue to the platform. At Ramp, a financial tech unicorn, every new business representative is now trained on Actively from day one, with VP of Sales Michael Manne calling it “a foundational GTM AI layer across our revenue organization.” Ironclad reports a 41% higher conversion rate from contacts recommended by Actively compared to non-recommended ones, underscoring the platform’s ability to identify the right opportunities.
The startup’s “GTM Superintelligence” concept hinges on a custom-trained, reasoning-driven AI model tailored to each client’s products, go-to-market strategy, and historical data. Unlike generic AI tools, Actively’s system synthesizes information from sources like Salesforce fields, intake calls, and market trends to form strategic engagement hypotheses—deciding who to target, when, and why they’re likely to buy. “It’s like having your best rep’s brain scaled across the entire team,” Garimella explained. The platform also features continuous learning, refining its approach with every interaction to optimize outcomes in real time.
The $22.5 million raise reflects growing investor confidence in reasoning-based AI models, a trend that’s gaining traction beyond foundational players like OpenAI. Just last week, YC-backed startup Taxo raised $5 million for a reasoning engine aimed at healthcare paperwork, hitting $1 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in six months. Actively AI declined to disclose its exact ARR but claimed a tenfold growth in nine months, hinting at a similarly rapid ascent. “Investors are betting on reasoning as the next frontier,” said TechCrunch senior reporter Charles Rollet. “Whether Actively can deliver remains to be seen, but the pitch is resonating.”
Not everyone is sold, however. Critics point to the crowded AI sales tech market, where startups like Gong, Clari, and Outreach have long dominated with automation-focused solutions. “Reasoning sounds flashy, but it’s still early days,” said Shardul Shah, a partner at Index Ventures, in a recent TechCrunch piece on AI SDRs. “The real test is whether it can outpace human-led decisions consistently.” Actively AI counters that its results—hundreds of millions in client revenue—speak louder than skepticism, positioning it as a leader in a potential shift away from automation-first tools.
For now, Actively AI plans to use the fresh capital to expand its engineering team, enhance its custom AI models, and double down on client success. With sales teams facing rising targets and shrinking budgets, the startup’s promise of “superintelligence” over mere assistance could mark a turning point—or just another chapter in the evolving saga of AI in sales. As Garimella put it, “In two years, every winning revenue org will be powered by advanced AI that outperforms humans. That’s not a prediction—it’s what we’re building today.”