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Twenty, a startup dedicated to creating an open-source customer relationship management (CRM) platform, has bagged $5 million in its Seed funding round. The round was led by Runa Capital and saw participation from C-suite executives of prominent CRM companies like HubSpot, Front, and Pipedrive.
Funding will enable the company to expand the open-source community, develop their product further, and reach large enterprise clients. Moving into a pace of over 280 active contributors to their repository, Twenty has been rapidly gaining momentum as a promising alternative to traditional CRM platforms.
Co-founders Félix Malfait, Charles Bochet, and Thomas Colas des Francs are at the helm of Twenty, targeting businesses with a highly customizable CRM solution that is open-source. This is diametrically opposed to the off-the-shelf solutions and proprietary methods that dominate the CRM industry today, Félix Malfait, Twenty’s CEO, says. “The problem with packaged software solutions is that they tend to make businesses more homogeneous,” he states. He believes that companies require more than just generic software in order to really differentiate themselves and meet their distinct needs. “To really be unique and do something special, companies need more than off-the-shelf solutions,” Malfait noted. “Twenty will give the direction of real, differentiated value. This is a CRM for people who want to build something truly unique and own it end-to-end.”
The idea behind Twenty is to offer an agile CRM environment in which a business can carve out the system to work according to a company’s needs. The availability of an open platform means companies can adapt it as needed, integrate their own sources of data, workflows, and even AI models. Focused on customization, security, and hybrid deployment options, this platform works for businesses that need more control and flexibility than those standard CRM solutions could provide.
Konstantin Vinogradov, General Partner at Runa Capital, particularly highlighted how OSS is extremely powerful where a lot of customization is needed. He further emphasized that it’s not just basic CRM features that businesses need but rather the ability to have deep integration and adaptability with their own systems. Open source is a powerful approach for highly extendable areas where enterprises require customization: own data sources, workflows, AI models, hybrid deployment, and security,” said Vinogradov. “This applies not only to cloud and data infrastructure but also to large business suites like CRM or ERP.
Vinogradov also emphasized the opportunity that OSS opens to disrupt the established closed-source players in the CRM space, like Salesforce, that are often bounded by their old developer ecosystems. He remains confident about the team behind Twenty: “We have been highly impressed by Twenty’s founders and their bold vision from the start, and the outstanding open-source traction since then has confirmed that they are on the right track”. A great privilege to support them as they build this open-source alternative of Salesforce.
The traditional CRM market has some big players like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and HubSpot; Twenty is setting itself apart by offering an open-source solution to the businesses to have absolute ownership and control over their systems. Unlike proprietary CRMs, when one puts restrictions in place and causes customizations at a steep price, Twenty’s model has turned this around, allowing businesses full discretion on how they may customize the software.
Additionally, because the platform is open source, it sets the stage for potential innovation from a variety of contributors. In fact, since its repository is serviced by over 280 active contributors, Twenty is developing a community of developers and users who are helping to shape the future of the platform. This kind of approach accelerates product development and continually improves the platform based on real user feedback and needs.
The product will be scaled up to meet the needs of larger enterprise clients as the company grows and expands. The flexibility and customization offered by Twenty make it more attractive for businesses that want control over their CRM systems and a growing platform to meet their needs.
Yet, with investors and an on-rising community supporting Twenty, it looks all the more likely to be a serious competitor in the CRM market. Its open-source model, focus on customization, and enterprise need make it a pretty alternative to traditional providers that mark the space today. As more and more business enterprise seeks more flexibility and innovative solutions, Twenty’s open-source CRM would prove the doorway to changing how companies manage customer relationships.
