# AI CRM software startup Lightfield raised a $47M Series A led by a16z; formerly Tome, it had raised $80M across earlier Series A and B rounds (Alex Konrad/Upstarts Media)

> Lightfield, an AI-native CRM startup, has raised a $47 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, according to Alex Konrad at Upstarts Media. The company is a reinvention of Tome, the presentation software startup that had previously raised roughly $80 million across earlier rounds before pivoting to sales software under a new name. The pivot is the interesting part. Rather than bolting AI features onto an existing CRM, Lightfield is trying to rebuild the category around AI from the ground up, betting that the standard model of sales reps manually logging every call and email is ripe for automation. If AI can capture and organize that data on its own, the tedious data-entry burden that plagues traditional CRMs could largely disappear. It is also a notable second act for founder Keith Peiris and his team, who are effectively redirecting the credibility and capital of their earlier venture. Backing from a16z suggests investors are willing to fund ambitious rebuilds of entrenched software categories, even when it means walking away from a previous product.

_Section: [AI Funding Tracker](https://www.wortins.com/funding) · Source: Techmeme · Published Wednesday, September 9, 2026_

## Wortins' read

Lightfield, an AI-native CRM startup, has raised a $47 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, according to Alex Konrad at Upstarts Media. The company is a reinvention of Tome, the presentation software startup that had previously raised roughly $80 million across earlier rounds before pivoting to sales software under a new name. The pivot is the interesting part. Rather than bolting AI features onto an existing CRM, Lightfield is trying to rebuild the category around AI from the ground up, betting that the standard model of sales reps manually logging every call and email is ripe for automation. If AI can capture and organize that data on its own, the tedious data-entry burden that plagues traditional CRMs could largely disappear. It is also a notable second act for founder Keith Peiris and his team, who are effectively redirecting the credibility and capital of their earlier venture. Backing from a16z suggests investors are willing to fund ambitious rebuilds of entrenched software categories, even when it means walking away from a previous product.

## Source

[Read the full story at Techmeme](https://www.techmeme.com/260909/p23#a260909p23)

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