Sequoia leads $1.5B tender offer for sales automation startup Clay

It took seven years of hard work for Kareem Amin, co-founder and CEO of sales automation startup Clay, to see the company’s product finally take off in 2022. Since then, the startup has experienced explosive growth, reached a valuation exceeding a billion dollars, and expanded its employee count from low double digits to over 200. Despite the team’s average short tenure at the company, Amin made a rare decision: Clay is allowing employees who have at least a year of tenure to sell some of their shares at a relatively high share price to one of its existing investors, Sequoia. It’s a win for everyone. The employee tender offer values the company at $1.5 billion, up from the $1.25 billion it secured in its Series B funding in January. Sequoia, an investor in Clay since its 2019 Series A, has agreed to purchase up to $20 million in employee stock. Startup employees often trade lower pay for a bet on the company’s future, Amin told TechCrunch. “Most of the startups don’t work out, but Cl ... Read full article.