Sales tech isn't CRM anymore. It's conversation intelligence, sales engagement, enablement platforms, and revenue operations. The investors who get this are writing $50M to $250M checks for companies with strong net dollar retention and proven expansion revenue.
Tiger Global Management: Led Highspot's $200M Series E at $2.3B valuation (2021), backed Gong Series E
Salesforce Ventures: Invested in Gong's $250M Series E at $7.25B, backs Outreach and Highspot
Sequoia Capital: Backed Gong's Series E, portfolio includes multiple revenue platforms
Norwest Venture Partners: Led Gong's early rounds, deep experience in sales software
Wing Venture Capital: Backed Gong Series A1, focuses on enterprise business technology
Insight Partners: Led Salesloft's $70M Series D at $600M valuation (2019)
Premji Invest: Co-led Outreach's $200M Series D at $4.4B valuation (2021)
Steadfast Capital Ventures: Co-led Outreach's $200M Series D (2021)
Sands Capital: Led Outreach's $50M Series C at $1.33B (2020)
ICONIQ Capital: Backed Highspot's growth rounds, led Series F at $3.5B
Madrona Venture Group: Early Highspot investor, Seattle-based enterprise VC
OpenView: Expansion-stage investor in Highspot and other sales platforms
Shasta Ventures: Early Highspot backer, enterprise SaaS focus
Sapphire Ventures: Backed Highspot and Outreach, $10B+ AUM
Bain & Company: Strategic investor in Highspot Series E
Lone Pine Capital: Backed Outreach Series C and D rounds
Spark Capital: Early Outreach investor through multiple rounds
Meritech Capital Partners: Backed Outreach's growth stages
Trinity Ventures: Outreach Series B and C participant
Mayfield: Outreach early-stage investor
Coatue: Gong Series E investor, multi-stage technology fund
Thrive Capital: Gong Series E participant, growth-stage focus
Experience: Look for VCs who've backed companies through usage-based pricing transitions. Sales tech investors need to understand seat expansion, API usage, and how conversation intelligence creates lock-in. Norwest backed Gong when recording sales calls was still controversial.
Network: Can they intro you to VPs of Sales at companies with 50+ rep teams? That's your ICP. Tiger Global’s speed and check size got Highspot from $600M to $2.3B in one round because they understood land-and-expand. Make sure your materials are shared through secure file sharing when sending sensitive customer data.
Alignment: Seed investors who understand SMB won't help you sell to enterprise. Gong raised from enterprise-focused VCs like Sequoia and Salesforce Ventures who got why Fortune 500 companies would pay $100+ per seat.
Track record: Look at whether their portfolio companies hit follow-on milestones. Outreach went from $1.1B to $4.4B valuation in 18 months with Premji and Steadfast. That's signal.
Use Ellty to share your deck with trackable links. You'll see who actually opens your product demo slides vs your market size deck.
Value-add: Ask what operational support they provide during enterprise sales cycles. Generic "we know buyers" promises are useless. Salesforce Ventures gives actual pilot customers - that's different than LinkedIn intros.
Identify potential investors: Research recent deals on Crunchbase. Don’t pitch seed funds for your Series C. Tiger Global writes $50M+ checks but moves in days, not months, while Norwest takes 8–12 weeks. Use detailed document analytics to understand which firms are actually reviewing your materials.
Craft a compelling pitch: Show gross retention above 90% and net dollar retention above 120%. Investors are tired of generic “AI sales” claims without usage metrics. If your product hasn't been deployed to 100+ reps at one customer, you're not ready for growth capital and secure sharing through file protection helps maintain control.
Share your pitch deck: Upload to Ellty and send trackable links. Monitor which pages investors spend time on - if they skip your competitive differentiation, that's useful information. It means they think you're a feature, not a platform.
Utilize your network: Message portfolio founders on LinkedIn and ask about decision speed and follow-on support. Most will be honest about who actually helps during enterprise sales cycles.
Attend networking events: SaaStr and Pavilion Summit are where real sales tech deals happen. Skip general startup mixers. Salesforce Ventures and Insight Partners send decision-makers — making it a good time to distribute a concise pitch deck to qualified leads.
Engage on online platforms: Connect with partners on LinkedIn after you've been introduced through portfolio companies. Cold emails to Tiger Global work if metrics are strong. Cold emails to Sequoia rarely do.
Organize due diligence: Set up an Ellty data room with your financial model, customer cohort analysis, and churn data before they ask. It speeds up the process. Slow founders lose to competitors who've already closed.
Set up introductory meetings: Lead with net dollar retention and average contract value expansion over 24 months. Don't waste time on TAM slides. Sales tech investors have seen every market sizing exercise. They care about proof that customers expand.
Remote selling accelerated digital transformation by five years. Enterprise buyers needed conversation intelligence, virtual deal rooms, and async video. Gong hit $7.25B because every B2B company had to record Zoom calls — tools that demanded strong security standards.
Tiger Global deployed capital faster than anyone, leading to massive valuation increases. Highspot went from $600M to $3.5B in 13 months. Outreach tripled valuation in 18 months. VCs who understood that sales was moving from in-person to digital won big.
The market has cooled since 2022, but strong revenue platforms still raise. Net dollar retention above 115% and efficient CAC payback under 12 months are table stakes now.
Fast-moving growth investor that led Highspot's massive Series E.
Corporate VC that backs sales and revenue platforms across all stages.
Backed Gong's path to $7.25B valuation alongside other unicorns.
Early Gong backer with deep sales software experience.
Enterprise technology specialist that backed Gong's Series A1.
Growth-stage specialist that led Salesloft's $70M Series D.
Co-led Outreach's $200M Series D at $4.4B valuation.
Co-led Outreach's Series D alongside Premji Invest.
Led Outreach's Series C at $1.33B valuation.
Backed Highspot's path from Series E to $3.5B valuation.
Seattle-based early investor in Highspot and Snowflake.
Expansion-stage VC that backed Highspot's growth.
Early Highspot backer with SaaS and mobile focus.
Backed both Highspot and Outreach's growth rounds.
Strategic investor in Highspot's Series E round.
Multi-stage investor in Outreach's Series C and D.
Backed Outreach from Series B through Series D.
Growth-stage investor in Outreach's rise.
Early Outreach investor through Series C.
Early-stage investor in Outreach and other sales tech.
Multi-stage technology investor in Gong's Series E.
Growth-stage investor in Gong's unicorn round.
These 22 investors closed deals from 2017 to 2026. Before you start reaching out, set up proper tracking.
Upload your deck to Ellty and create a unique link for each investor. You'll see exactly which slides they view and how long they spend on your customer expansion metrics. Most founders are surprised to learn investors skip competitive slides but spend 10+ minutes on cohort retention analysis.
When Tiger Global or Sequoia asks for more materials, share an Ellty data room instead of Dropbox links. Your financial model, customer cohort data, and churn analysis in one secure place with view analytics. Sales tech investors want to see that you track everything - start with your fundraise.
How do I know if an investor understands sales tech?
Check their portfolio for revenue platforms, conversation intelligence, or sales engagement companies. If they only have CRM companies, they won't understand usage-based pricing or API economics. Norwest and Salesforce Ventures get it - they backed Gong early.
Should I pitch growth investors for my seed round?
No. Tiger Global and Insight Partners write $50M+ checks. They won't look at pre-revenue companies. Start with Madrona, Shasta, or OpenView for seed and Series A. Growth investors come later.
What metrics do sales tech investors actually care about?
Net dollar retention above 120%, gross retention above 90%, and average seats per customer growing quarter over quarter. Don't pitch "number of users" - pitch expansion revenue from existing customers. That's what separates good from great.
How many investors should I talk to?
Build a list of 20 to 30 who've actually funded sales tech. Track conversations in Ellty. Most founders talk to 40+ investors before closing Series A. Expect 4 to 6 months for growth rounds.
When should enterprise sales tech companies set up data rooms?
Before your first partner meeting. Tiger Global moves in days, not weeks. If you're scrambling to organize customer expansion cohorts after the first call, you'll lose to competitors who had it ready. Use Ellty to organize everything before you start pitching.
Do sales tech investors prefer PLG or enterprise sales?
Depends on the stage. Early-stage investors like Wing and Norwest want to see PLG motion with some enterprise customers. Growth investors like Tiger and Insight need to see $5M+ ARR with strong enterprise expansion. Don't try PLG if your ACV is $50K+ - it won't work.