Durham machine-learning startup Klearly raises $4M from investors

Durham startup Klearly, which makes software for marketing and sales professionals, has raised $4 million in funding.

• The company’s investors include IDEA Fund Partners, an early backer of Triangle software unicorn Pendo and the Triangle Tweener Fund, which is made up of some of the region’s most influential entrepreneurs.
• The company's lead investor for its new round was York IE, an investment firm that has previously invested in other Triangle startups, like Raleigh's Finmark and Durham's Kevel.

Why it matters: Klearly is a promising startup that is gaining momentum both with investors and customers. It also successfully raised money at a time when startups across the country are struggling to raise new funding rounds.

• The company's software uses machine learning and predictive analytics to help guide sales and marketing departments on how to manage client relationships.
• Klearly is run by alums of some of the Triangle's largest tech companies, including SAS and Red Hat.

What they're saying: "We have really good momentum right now," Klearly CEO and founder Alex Krawchick told Axios, noting it recently brought on a large pharmaceutical company as a customer. "And I want to take advantage of that."

• The company will use the money to hire employees and invest in marketing, Krawchic said.