• Ctrl’s workspace gives sales teams a new way to get all customer-related tasks done in seconds rather than hours  – and new users can start for free in 30 seconds
• Studies have shown sales professionals can spend as 40% of their time working on manual tasks, such as updating CRM records, logging calls, managing emails, and admin
• The platform integrates with Salesforce, Hubspot, G Suite, Slack and more 
• The Seed round was led by LocalGlobe and Earlybird and will be used to fuel expansion

London and Tel Aviv, 27^th April 2023: Ctrl – the workspace that helps Revenue teams supercharge their CRM and customer workflows with advanced automation, AI tools and integrations –  has raised a $9 million funding round led by LocalGlobe and Earlybird. Dig Ventures and Jibe Ventures, alongside angels including sales leaders from Slack, Intercom, Personio, and Celonis* also participated.

Founded by Omri Sagzan, 33, and Aviv Nahum, 26, in 2021, the Ctrl workspace has been built to finally free Revenue teams from the manual and tedious tasks that dominate their workflows and damage their pipelines. Studies have shown sales professionals spend as much as 40% of their time updating CRM records, logging calls, managing emails, and completing admin – tasks that fail to shift the revenue dial and pull revenue teams away from critical work such as prospecting, relationship-building and closing deals. 

At the same time, Ctrl solves one of the one of the most pressing challenges businesses face today – the ever-growing tech sprawl. Today, customer-facing teams have to manage myriad processes on siloed software at every stage of the sales process. These broken workflows cause data to become scattered or lost which leads to bad forecasting, missed deals and unhappy customers.

A true system of engagement powered by AI  

By seamlessly integrating with some of the world’s most popular CRMs and tools – from Salesforce to Hubspot, G-Suite, Slack, and Jira – Ctrl streamlines these workflows by consolidating the sprawl of applications into a sleek, modern UI. This allows teams to access vital customer data, call notes, emails, and insights at the click of a button. 

What’s more, by harnessing the power of AI, Ctrl supercharges this ease-of-use by enabling teams to effortlessly update CRM fields, tasks, notes, and generate follow-up emails, completing the entire end-to-end process in seconds. In this way, Ctrl frees Revenue teams from the shackles of low-value, manual and repetitive work, empowering them to spend more time with customers and prospects. 

A better way

Ctrl’s co-founders launched the workspace with the long-term vision of fully automating and simplifying workflows – from discovery calls through to customer renewals. After discussions with 100+ companies worldwide, the duo spotted a need for a tool that specifically unlocks the power of workflows for knowledge workers. 

“We have seen many automations in the back-end, but the knowledge worker still sits for hours on the computer, doing repetitive and non-rewarding work,” explained Aviv, Ctrl’s CTO, who experienced the pain point while helping manage the pipeline working for tech VC, Battery Ventures. ‘We had both felt this in our own jobs, and thought there had to be a better way.” 

With Ctrl, the pair has built a customisable, bi-directional platform that is truly driven by optimising the end-user experience. CEO Omri said: “We envision a world where people don’t have to spend countless hours staring at a computer interface, bogged down by manual tasks that drain their productivity and creativity. We believe that the majority of these tasks will be automated, taking just seconds to complete. Our team is on a mission to make this vision a reality, and with the support of our investors, we are poised to revolutionize the way people work.”

It’s a testament to both the scale of the problem they’re solving and the deep understanding of the industry from Ctrl’s founders that sales leaders from some of the biggest and most innovative companies believe and back the duo. 

Building on momentum 

Today Ctrl has a 16-person team based in London and Tel Aviv. The startup currently offers a freemium model that allows any business to sign up and access its core functionalities. With the new funding, Ctrl plans to launch its full Beta version and accelerate its scaling and expansion efforts.

Omri shares: “We’re thrilled and humbled to see our users spreading the word about our platform to colleagues and friends; It’s been a major factor in our growth so far. As we continue to expand, we’re always looking for ways to improve and add new features that make workflows even better. We’re lucky to have amazing investors and operators supporting us. We can’t wait to see where this journey takes us.”

Mish Mashkautsan, general partner at LocalGlobe, said: “We are delighted to back Omri, Aviv and their talented team. As businesses everywhere look to streamline operations and increase efficiency with minimal investment, using this integrated workspace is a cost-effective and flexible choice.”

Dr. Andre Retterath, partner at Earlybird, said: “Sprawling tech, siloed software, and inefficient, manual processes are pushing businesses and their Revenue teams to a breaking point. Ctrl’s solution strips away hassle and hurdles to empower businesses to deliver the very best experience for customers and their teams, and to gain a competitive advantage.” 

– ENDS –

Editor’s Notes

*The list of notable angels who participated in this round are: 

• Rav Dhaliwal, ex-Head of CS at Slack
• Robin Van Lieshout, CSO at  Gainsight
• Remy Lazarovici, Managing Director DACH at Celonis
• Sebastian Walter, ex-VP CS at Celonis
• Keren Myr, ex-VP Sales at Sisense
• Chris Deckert, Head of Customer Growth at Personio

Contact: [email protected]  

About Ctrl: Ctrl is a next-generation integrated workspace that will finally free revenue team members from wasting hours on repetitive manual work around customers. Ctrl brings together all the pieces required to complete a workflow and help to execute it. The platform is compatible with Salesforce, G Suite, Hubspot, Slack and more. It is a truly new system of engagement that takes just 30 seconds to set up, and is free to try. Ctrl can help your business simplify and automate workflows today. Head to: www.getctrl.co. 

About LocalGlobe: LocalGlobe is EMEA’s most successful investor in unicorns at seed stage, and one of a family of four funds from EMEA lifestage tech investor Phoenix Court. With exceptional experience in backing founders and their teams at the start of their journey, LocalGlobe is any founders’ best partner from seed to Series A. The fund has invested in 14 unicorns at seed stage in EMEA, with portfolio companies including At-Bay, Motorway, Travelperk and Zego. 

About Earlybird: Earlybird Venture Capital focuses on European technology companies. Founded in 1997, Earlybird identifies and backs exceptional early-stage companies on a pan-European basis and supports them through their growth and development phases – providing financial resources, strategic support, plus access to an international network and capital markets. Earlybird invests out of a family of independently-managed funds. Flagship funds with early-stage focus include Digital West (Western Europe), Digital East (Emerging Europe), and Health. Newer funds Earlybird-X (pre-seed in Western Europe & university spinoffs) and Growth Opportunities (a pan-Earlybird growth fund) offer even more agility. With EUR 2 billion under management across all fund streams, 9 IPOs, and 31 trade sales, Earlybird is one of Europe’s most established and active venture capital firms.

More information on www.earlybird.com, LinkedIn, and Twitter.