folk (HX19) secures $3.3M from 35 operator angels to reinvent CRMs

folk today announces it has raised a $3.3M seed funding round led by Accel and 35 operator angels. Part of the eF19 batch, folk initially started as an internal tool within our studio, and has now grown into a 13 person strong team ready to reinvent the CRM with a powerful & collaborative contact tool: the extended relationships manager (xRM).

🐣 It started as an internal tool: ContactX…

ContactX, as we initially called it, started back in 2013 as an internal tool. We’ve always been convinced that our network is our most important asset but without the right tool to leverage it, its value is really hard to capture. So we tried to use CRMs and other similar tools to get the most out of our networks. But CRMs are built for salespeople, they are designed for sales pipeline and their specific workflows. So we got down to business and developed an internal tool that allowed everyone in the eFounders team to connect their network, share their contacts, and collaborate together on contacts.

We quickly realized that the pain of effectively managing contacts wasn’t limited to just us at eFounders, but was experienced by almost every team and individual that needed to manage external contacts. So we decided to go further with ContactX and bring it from an internal eFounders tool to an independent company: folk was born.

👏 …And turned into a full-blown company: folk

folk was cofounded by our very own cofounder Thibaud Elziere, as well as Simo Lemhandez and Jean-Yves Poilleux. The mission: to give individuals and teams whose jobs revolve around contacts a powerful and versatile tool to streamline their workflows. It’s not a better CRM, but the very first xRM of its kind, with the x standing for anyone, not only for customers but for journalists, candidates, suppliers, investors etc.

Since its inception, the team has been furiously working to take up the ambitious challenge of reinventing the CRM. folk is now 13 people strong, and has attracted 10,000 sign-ups to its waitlist — confirming our initial intuition that teams are deeply in need of a tool to effectively tap into their network.

To double down on its mission, folk raised funds from 35 operator angels and Accel. Operator angels are different to traditional business angels in that they are usually former or current startup employees that bring their deep knowledge and expertise to the companies they back. The team at folk will have the benefit of being able to pick the brains of successful operators from design and product to customer success and growth. Here’s the full list of Operator Angels:

🚀 Now, what’s next

With this round of funding, folk will accelerate hiring and continue to develop the first version of its product. folk is also gradually opening access to both teams and individuals. So if you want to leverage the power of your network, be it personal of professional, then go on and sign up to folk! ➡️ www.folk.app