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How Lemlist Structured a $25M Claap Acquisition at $40M in Revenue

Lemlist CEO Charles Tenot explains why Lemlist bought the seven-person call intelligence startup Claap and how the deal mixes cash, a vendor loan, convertible bonds and an earn-out.

Charles Tenot · Lemlist

Published October 21, 2025
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What you’ll learn

Lemlist CEO Charles Tenot explains why Lemlist bought Claap, a seven-person call intelligence startup at about $2M ARR, and how the deal was structured with upfront cash, a vendor loan, convertible bonds and an earn-out. He also covers Lemlist's growth to about $40M in revenue and how it funds acquisitions from profit.

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Key moments

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Profit funds more growth

“we're profit making at Lemlist. We do around EUR 10,000,000 profit every year.”
Watch at 04:29

Buying an under-distributed product

“they have a very strong tech end product DNA, and they lack a bit of distribution, which we are good at, at Lemlist.”
Watch at 07:47

Winning on fit, not price

“it's not really the price because we bid slightly less. It's more the fit with the product and the team.”
Watch at 09:45

What a vendor loan means

“It's a vendor loan. So it's basically like deferred cash.”
Watch at 10:42

EBITDA floor guides hiring

“we always want to be above 20% EBITDA, while we always invest in growth.”
Watch at 16:18

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About the speaker

Charles Tenot

CEO · Lemlist

Company revenue
$23M

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