n8n may hit $40M ARR, The AI Popups Bootstrapped $4M ARR in 12 months
Automation Is Becoming a Core Value Driver
Automation Is Becoming a Core Value Driver — From Clay’s $3.1B Valuation to n8n’s 5x Growth in Five Months.
Automation is emerging as one of the most lucrative value propositions. Clay — which uses AI to find sales leads and automate the entire GTM process — just closed a $100M funding round at a $3.1B valuation.
Meanwhile, another automation-first product, n8n, which has taken the world by storm with AI-enhanced workflow automation, is reportedly heading toward a $1.5B valuation.
According to the Financial Times, n8n is raising a new round led by Accel, potentially valuing the company at $1.5B or more. That’s up from just $300M in March when it raised $60M — a 5x valuation jump in under five months.
Disclosures from the previous round showed that after adding AI to its automation workflows, n8n’s revenue grew 5x, and doubled in the first two months of this year alone. At the time, it had over 3,000 enterprise customers and more than 230,000 active consumer users.
Now, n8n’s ARR has surpassed $40M, the Financial Times said. With 4,400+ workflow templates and 400+ integrations, and over 127,000 GitHub stars. The level of enthusiasm is easy to spot — just look at the flood of n8n tutorials on X.
n8n’s founding story is also worth noting. It was created by Jan Oberhauser, a former Hollywood visual effects artist tired of repetitive work. On June 23, 2019, after countless late nights caused by tool limitations, Jan launched n8n’s first GitHub repo. The name comes from “nodemation” (node + automation), later simplified to “n8n.”
From day one, n8n chose the open-source route but with a twist: the “Fair-Code” license. This allows users to freely use, modify, and distribute the code, but imposes reasonable limits on large-scale commercial use — protecting the company’s business interests while keeping the community vibrant.
This model not only lowered adoption barriers but also nurtured a strong contributor ecosystem. By 2024, the GitHub repo had earned over 127,000 stars. More than 4,400 workflow templates — spanning AI content generation to complex enterprise integrations — have been contributed by users, creating powerful network effects.
Against competitors like Zapier and Make, n8n offers:
400+ integrations, from mainstream SaaS tools to enterprise databases
Self-hosting options for strict security/compliance needs
Unlimited workflow executions with no usage-based pricing caps
Native AI integrations supporting OpenAI, Google Gemini, and more
2024 was a turning point as n8n went “AI-first,” embedding AI deep into the product vision. New features included:
Chat Trigger: a conversational canvas for building workflows via natural language
AI Agent Framework: multi-step autonomous AI agents
Smart Workflow Recommendations: template suggestions based on user goals
Multimodal AI: support for text, image, and audio models
The market responded strongly — AI-related templates grew over 300% and became one of the most used features. In its 2024 year-end review, n8n said AI was the product’s core for the year.
n8n’s first funding was a $12M round in 2021 from Sequoia Capital, Felicis Ventures, and Firstminute Capital. Its $60M Series B in March was led by Highland Europe, which said: “n8n represents the future of workflow automation. Their unique architecture and community-driven growth create a powerful moat.”
The community is indeed its biggest moat — a template economy that drives adoption:
4,400+ templates across marketing, content, data, and more
A Verified Creators Program offering certification and revenue sharing
Community-driven docs and tutorials that lower the learning curve
Technically, n8n supports complex logic and custom code, while Zapier is better suited for simple trigger–action flows. As Jan Oberhauser puts it:
“We believe AI should augment human capabilities, not replace them. The winning formula is AI, code, and humans together.”
Clay’s growth, I believe, also comes down to automation — though it’s laser-focused on GTM.
The AI Popups Bootstrapped $4M ARR in 12 months
I recently came across another AI-powered sales product that’s redefining the humble popup, and I love the idea. Without any external funding, it reached $4M in annual revenue within 12 months.
Instead of the traditional “Welcome to our store — here’s 10% off” approach, it creates an experience akin to in-store shopping.
