LinkedIn Alums Launch Persana AI, Boosting Sales Intelligence with $2.3M

The sales intelligence market size is projected to grow from $4 billion in 2024 to more than $10 billion by 2032 as businesses seek best resources to get ahead. 

Helping to reshape sales prospecting, Persana AI has pioneered a fresh approach and is today announcing a $2.3M funding round to accelerate the growth of its powerful platform, setting new standards for GTM (go-to-market) teams seeking data-driven transformation.

The Persana AI $2.3M seed funding round attracted investors including Y Combinator, Race Capital, Stage 2 Capital, and is supported by industry experts like Dharmesh Shah, CTO of HubSpot. 

Despite advancements in data and AI, GTM teams still lose 80% or more of their time to manual tasks. Persana AI’s solution is groundbreaking: autonomous AI agents powered by a robust, multi-source data consolidation model. 

Unlike traditional CRMs or siloed systems, which often function as “data tombs,” Persana’s agents operate as digital co-workers, handling prospect qualification, personalization, and high-intent monitoring, maximizing engagement opportunities.

Key platform features include: 

• Real-Time Multi-Source Data Consolidation: With 75+ sources and destinations Persana AI offers a comprehensive, dynamic view of each prospect, setting a new standard for data quality and accuracy. New data sources get added almost weekly, making Persana AI a powerful data layer.
• Agentic Prospecting: AI agents identify, qualify, and prioritize leads in real-time, automating research-heavy tasks.
• Smart Personalization: Outreach is tailored to each prospect’s specific business needs, increasing relevance and conversion rates.

These features enable enterprises to achieve up to a 25% reduction in sales cycle time and a 30% boost in conversion rates. Deb Pratiher, co-founder at Quest Labs said “Persana did in three minutes what used to take my team three weeks.”

Co-founded by LinkedIn veterans Rush Shahani and Sriya Maram—drawing on further expertise from roles at Shopify, Stripe, and ElementAI—Persana AI addresses a pivotal GTM challenge: the high costs and inefficiencies of manual data entry, research, and prospecting that slow revenue growth. 

Rush, a leading authority on AI reliability and a published expert, and Sriya, with a deep background in AI innovation, set out to redefine prospecting and engagement with a focus on automation, precision, and strategic impact. 

Together, they aim to empower GTM teams with tools that streamline workflows and drive growth in today’s data-driven landscape.

“Our vision for Persana AI is to create the ultimate prospecting super app, merging advanced data consolidation with intelligent automation,” said Rush Shahani, co-founder of Persana AI.

“By bringing real-time data from an extensive array of sources, Persana equips GTM teams with insights that once demanded dedicated data science resources. This platform not only saves users over 20 hours each week but also enhances conversion rates and drives pipeline growth. Persana is more than a tool—it’s a strategic advantage for modern, growth-focused teams.”

Persana AI distinguishes itself from incumbents like Apollo, ZoomInfo, and Clay with its advanced, agent-driven approach to prospecting. 

While both Persana and Clay aggregate data sources, Persana’s AI agents offer a superior level of insight and automation, acting as digital co-workers that dynamically qualify leads, personalize outreach, and prioritize high-intent engagement. 

This intelligent, agentic model transforms raw data into actionable intelligence, empowering GTM teams to make faster, more strategic decisions and ultimately gain a competitive edge. With Persana, prospecting moves beyond data collection to deliver high-impact results that drive growth.

“Our long-term vision is for Persana AI to become the central GTM platform for managing the entire customer journey, from prospecting through post-sale engagement. Agents are only as good as the data they access and we at Persana are working to build the best agents powered by our expansive data foundation,” said Sriya Maram, co-founder and CEO of Persana AI. 

“By advancing our AI and ML infrastructure, we enable GTM teams to scale effortlessly, shifting their focus to strategic customer relationships and growth.”

With this funding round, Persana AI is set to expand its platform’s capabilities with specialized task-specific autonomous agents tailored to each stage of the GTM cycle:

• Research Agents: The new Quantum Agent, already widely used by Persana’s clients, automates real-time data gathering for deep account insights.
• Autopilot Agents: Future agents will automate comprehensive follow-up and outreach tasks, adapting to dynamic prospect behaviour for enhanced engagement.
• Predictive Agents: By analyzing emerging trends, these agents will identify high-priority prospects and suggest optimal next steps, helping teams stay proactive and competitive.

“Rush Shahani and Sriya Maram effectively built technologies that scaled to billions at Linkedin, solving complex data challenges with advanced AI and search capabilities, and at Race Capital, we are thrilled to partner with them to deliver this solution to the broader industry,” said Edith Yeung, general partner at Race Capital. 

“Customers at fast-growing enterprises are thrilled with Persana, with their sales teams experiencing a boost in productivity and efficiency in their prospecting efforts.”