Slant CRM (Pageport), a next-generation customer relationship management platform, has successfully raised $3.3 million in funding to expand its mission of simplifying and modernizing CRM for growing businesses. The round was led by 2048 Ventures and Matchstick Ventures, two early-stage investors known for backing high-potential SaaS startups.

Founded by Thomas Clawson and his team, Slant CRM (also branded as Pageport) is building a streamlined, modern CRM solution designed to eliminate the complexity of legacy systems like Salesforce and HubSpot while providing a platform that small and mid-sized teams can actually enjoy using.

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Why Slant CRM Stands Out

Customer relationship management has become one of the most essential tools in business operations, but also one of the most overwhelming. Traditional CRM platforms often come with steep learning curves, bloated features, and expensive subscription tiers that frustrate users more than they help.

Slant CRM takes a different approach. By focusing on ease of use, automation, and modern design, the platform allows businesses to:

• Track customer interactions without drowning in unnecessary features.
  
• Automate repetitive workflows and follow-ups.
  
• Gain clear, actionable insights into sales pipelines.
  
• Scale their CRM usage without requiring a dedicated operations team.
  

The result is a lean but powerful CRM system that feels built for the modern SMB market—fast, intuitive, and affordable.

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Why Investors Are Backing Slant CRM

The $3.3 million round, led by 2048 Ventures and Matchstick Ventures, represents a strong vote of confidence in Slant’s ability to disrupt a mature but stagnant sector.

Both firms have deep portfolios in SaaS, giving them insight into where CRM is headed. They recognize that while companies like Salesforce and HubSpot dominate the enterprise, there’s a massive underserved market among smaller teams that need simplicity, not complexity.

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The Market Opportunity in CRM

The global CRM market is projected to reach $157 billion by 2030 (Grand View Research), growing at a CAGR of 13.9%. While enterprise adoption has fueled much of the sector’s growth, the SMB segment is expanding just as quickly—with over 70% of small businesses planning to adopt CRM tools by 2026 (Statista).

Yet the pain points remain clear:

• 64% of businesses say CRM systems are too complex for daily use (Capterra).
  
• 43% of SMBs still rely on spreadsheets to manage customer relationships, citing cost and usability as barriers (Gartner).
  
• CRM implementation failure rates remain high, with some studies estimating 30–60% of rollouts fail due to complexity.
  

Slant CRM is entering the market with a solution purpose-built to address these gaps—delivering simplicity, speed, and user-first design.

And this is where the deeper founder insight comes in: Slant shows that disruption doesn’t always mean reinventing the wheel. Sometimes it means removing the friction that incumbents refuse to fix. In CRM, the incumbents are busy building for enterprises, leaving smaller businesses frustrated. Slant flipped that lens—designing not for the Fortune 500, but for the companies that actually make up the majority of the economy.

Here’s the hidden insight in Slant CRM’s journey: focus on the user that incumbents ignore.

Salesforce isn’t worried about the 10-person agency or the 25-seat startup. But those teams still desperately need CRM tools that work. By obsessing over this overlooked segment, Slant is building loyalty and product-market fit in a space where the giants can’t easily compete—because their entire model depends on enterprise contracts and feature sprawl.

For founders, the lesson is sharp: find the customers the incumbents undervalue, and build for them first. In doing so, you’ll not only gain traction but also build a moat around usability and trust. Slant CRM demonstrates that simplicity itself can be a disruptive strategy.

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How Slant CRM Plans to Use the Funding

With $3.3 million in new funding, Slant CRM intends to:

• Expand its product development team to roll out new features focused on automation and analytics.
  
• Enhance integrations with popular tools like Slack, Google Workspace, and Microsoft Teams.
  
• Grow its go-to-market efforts with targeted campaigns aimed at SMBs and agencies.
  
• Strengthen customer support to ensure businesses switching from legacy CRMs have a seamless transition.
  

These initiatives position Slant CRM to accelerate adoption and establish itself as the default CRM for small-to-mid-sized businesses.

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Standing Out in a Crowded Market

The CRM space is highly competitive, with giants like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho dominating enterprise adoption. But Slant CRM is carving a defensible niche by focusing on what those platforms don’t: simplicity and speed for smaller teams.

Much like how Notion redefined productivity software by focusing on design and ease of use, Slant is applying the same philosophy to CRM. This differentiation is its biggest strength.

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What’s Next for Slant CRM

Looking ahead, Slant CRM plans to continue refining its platform, expanding globally, and building community-driven growth through partnerships with accelerators and small business networks. The long-term vision is to become the go-to CRM for the modern economy’s fastest-growing companies.

If executed successfully, Slant CRM could emerge as the Notion of CRMs—a product that wins loyalty not by being the biggest, but by being the simplest and most loved.

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Conclusion

Slant CRM’s $3.3 million funding round is more than just capital—it’s a validation of a growing need for simpler, smarter customer management. By targeting an underserved market and removing the friction that incumbents ignore, Slant is positioning itself to become a major player in the next generation of CRM solutions.

For founders, the lesson is clear: sometimes the smartest play isn’t building for the biggest market, but for the most frustrated one.

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