Core Viewpoint - Conversion, a marketing automation startup founded by two dropouts from UC Berkeley, has raised $28 million in Series A funding, led by Abstract, with participation from True Ventures, HOF Capital, and top angel investors from AI and GTM fields [1][19]. Company Background - The founders, Neil Tewari (24) and James Jiao, were college roommates who developed a passion for entrepreneurship during high school [3][5]. - They initially created a marketing tool for personal use, which evolved into the idea for Conversion after conducting customer research [6][8][10]. - The company successfully raised $2 million in seed funding at the age of 19 and decided to drop out of school to focus on the project full-time [10][11]. Product Development - Conversion integrates AI deeply from the start, enabling tasks like lead organization and automated personalized follow-up emails [16]. - The platform is designed as a growth engine for modern B2B marketing teams, integrating product and CRM data to deliver timely and relevant information [16]. Market Position - Conversion has achieved an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of nearly $10 million, with about 90% of its customers being mid-sized enterprises that have moved away from traditional applications [16]. - The marketing automation and AI integration space is highly competitive, with numerous players, including traditional tools like HubSpot and new AI-native startups [17][18]. Strategic Focus - The company aims to target enterprises already using traditional marketing tools rather than competing for first-time adopters [18]. - The founders emphasize making marketing automation seamless and efficient as a key to their success [19].