Monaco burst onto the B2B sales scene on February 11, 2026 with $35M in funding and a promise to be the all-in-one AI sales platform for startups. With backing from Founders Fund and angels like the Collison brothers (Stripe), Garry Tan (Y Combinator), and a founding team from Brex, Apollo, Qualtrics, and Clari — Monaco has every reason to be taken seriously.
But hype and reality aren't always the same thing. Here's our honest review of Monaco's platform, what it does well, where it falls short, and the best alternatives to consider.
Monaco at a Glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|
| Founded | 2025 (launched February 11, 2026) |
| Founders | Sam Blond (CEO), Brian Blond, Abishek Viswanathan, Malay Desai |
| Employees | ~40 people |
| Funding | $35M ($10M seed + $25M Series A), both led by Founders Fund |
| Investors | Founders Fund, Human Capital (incubator), Alt Cap, Mantis, Saga VC |
| Angel Investors | Patrick & John Collison (Stripe), Garry Tan (YC), Neil Mehta (Greenoaks) |
| Target Market | Seed and Series A startups |
| Pricing | Flat fee, currently discounted during beta (actual amount undisclosed) |
| Status | Public beta (previously private beta) |
| Website | monaco.com (minimal — no /about or /pricing pages) |
| G2/Capterra/Product Hunt | Not listed on any review platform yet |
What Monaco Does
Monaco positions itself as an "AI-native sales platform" and "the all-in-one revenue platform — and the system of record." Their press release says it "builds your TAM, runs outbound, captures every interaction, and manages pipeline in one place." Sam Blond's launch tweet stated: "Monaco automates customer acquisition and revenue growth for startups. The platform disrupting sales with AI has finally arrived."
Here's what's included, based on our primary research across Monaco's website, press release, and TechCrunch coverage:
1. AI-Native CRM
Monaco's CRM isn't Salesforce with AI sprinkled on top. It's built from the ground up to be intelligent: auto-logging interactions, surfacing insights, and managing pipeline with minimal manual input. The press release explicitly positions it against "legacy CRM and disparate point solutions." Their AI doesn't just store data — it "proactively recommends and takes action to generate more demand and move deals forward."
Beta user Hari Raghavan (CEO, Autograph) said: "We've tried every modern CRM and sales tool. Monaco is the best and it's not even close." And Alex Berkovic (Co-Founder, Sphinx) added: "Monaco made our legacy CRM feel instantly obsolete."
2. Prospect Database
This is Monaco's answer to ZoomInfo — a proprietary contact database built from scratch. The platform automatically builds and stack-ranks your Total Addressable Market (TAM), creating a prioritized list of target accounts. It incorporates buying signals like existing connections, job changes, and custom web-based signals to identify recommended buyers.
Beta user Amy Yan (Co-Founder, Nowadays) shared: "We had our TAM built on day 2 and we're running outbound sequences that same day. I can't imagine how painful this would have been without Monaco."
3. AI Outbound Agents
Monaco's AI agents create and execute outreach campaigns based on embedded GTM best practices. They draft follow-up emails and manage sequences. As Sam Blond told TechCrunch: "We can replace full workflows with agents. Monaco builds a database of prospects, identifies the exact people at a target company to pitch, and the sequence in which to target them. We orchestrate and execute that sequence. We schedule a meeting."
Phillip Smart (CEO, Parley) described it: "It feels like I have a machine running in the background getting all these meetings set up for me."
4. Meeting Notetaker
Built-in meeting recorder that captures and summarizes sales conversations, generates CRM updates, and surfaces action items. One less tool in your stack.
5. Forward Deployed AEs (Human-in-the-Loop)
This is Monaco's most distinctive feature. Rather than selling fully autonomous AI, Monaco provides "forward deployed AEs" — experienced salespeople who are embedded with your team. They monitor and guide the AI, ensure quality, and handle actual customer meetings in person. Critically, as Blond told TechCrunch: "Monaco does not have an agent pretending to be a sales rep trying to sell to the customer."
Catheryn Li (Co-Founder, Simple AI) said: "Monaco is more than technology. The forward deployed AE is like having a sales exec on our team."
6. Deal Advisory
The platform gives AI-powered advice on how to close deals. Ben Dopfner (Founder, Vesto) described it: "The AI actually knows which opportunities to prioritize and automates my follow-up. It's like having a world class CRO as a copilot."
7. Sales AI Chat
According to Monaco's product page, you can "Chat with Monaco to receive sales feedback and uncover trends across the business."
What We Like About Monaco
The all-in-one vision is smart. Most early-stage startups piece together 5-8 tools for their sales motion: CRM, data provider, email sequencer, meeting recorder, pipeline tracker. Monaco aims to replace all of them. Graham Cummings (CRO, Datawizz) captured this well: "We're a 3-person team running GTM like a 20-person sales org."
Human-in-the-loop is the right approach. While competitors like 11x and Artisan try to fully replace human SDRs, Monaco embeds experienced salespeople who guide the AI. This produces better outreach and fewer embarrassing automated emails. Sam Blond describes it as: "This combination of the technology, but also the service."
The founding team is world-class. Sam Blond was CRO at Brex and partner at Founders Fund — he's seen both building and investing sides. Brian Blond has CRO experience at multiple startups plus VC at Human Capital and Sutter Hill. Abishek Viswanathan was CPO at Apollo (a competitor!) and Qualtrics. Malay Desai was SVP Engineering at Clari. These aren't first-time founders guessing at sales tooling.
AI-native architecture matters. Building from scratch means no legacy code, no bolt-on AI, no compromise. The press release calls Monaco "a fully-integrated agentic system" that shifts away from "user-input reactive software."
The investor backing is exceptional. Peter Thiel's personal endorsement ("No product sells itself — though Monaco comes close") and checks from the Stripe founders, YC's president, and Greenoaks represent arguably the strongest angel syndicate in recent startup history. Even Jake Paul tweeted his support.
Fast onboarding. Beta users consistently report being up and running within days, not weeks. The TAM-on-day-2 testimonial suggests the setup friction is very low.
Where Monaco Falls Short
No website visitor identification. This is a major gap. Monaco can build a list of prospects and reach out to them, but it can't tell you who's visiting your website right now. Website visitors are the warmest leads in your funnel — not being able to identify them means you're missing your highest-intent prospects.
No phone outreach. Monaco is email-first (possibly email-only). There's no smart dialer, no call recording, no AI call scripts. For teams where phone is part of the motion — and it should be — this is a real limitation.
No chatbot or inbound engagement. If someone comes to your website and wants to talk, Monaco can't help. No conversational AI, no live chat, no on-site engagement. Inbound leads convert at 5-10x the rate of cold outbound, so missing them is costly.
No daily SDR playbook. Monaco runs campaigns, but it doesn't tell each SDR what to do first each morning. There's no prioritized task list, no "here are your top 10 actions today." SDR productivity depends on this kind of structured guidance.
Opaque pricing. Sam Blond told TechCrunch the pricing is a flat fee, "currently discounted while the product remains in beta" — but he "declined to tell us what Monaco will charge." The Monaco website has no pricing page (it returns a 404). For a platform targeting scrappy startups who need to move fast, this adds unnecessary friction.
Public beta means limited independent validation. While Monaco shares beta customer testimonials on their product page (Sphinx, Bluenote, BackOps, Parley, Datawizz, Judgment Labs, Simple AI, Nowadays, Autograph, Vesto), there are no G2 reviews, no Capterra listing, no Product Hunt launch, and no independent case studies with metrics. The testimonials are positive but don't include specific ROI numbers.
Startup-only positioning. Monaco explicitly targets seed and Series A companies. Sam Blond acknowledges that Monaco "competes primarily with HubSpot" on price positioning. If you're growing past that stage, you might outgrow Monaco quickly.
Minimal web presence. Monaco's website is sparse — their homepage has a single paragraph, and both /about and /pricing URLs return 404 errors. For a $35M-funded company, the lack of detailed product information online makes evaluation difficult without getting on a call.
The "service" model has scalability questions. The forward deployed AE model (human salespeople embedded with each customer) is expensive to scale. As ainvest.com noted: "Monaco's model, which combines AI automation with human oversight, requires significant investment to build the team and refine the service layer." With only ~40 employees, how many customers can they serve this way?
Monaco Pricing: What We Know
Monaco uses a flat-fee pricing model. Sam Blond told TechCrunch it's a flat fee "currently discounted while the product remains in beta" but specifically "declined to tell us what Monaco will charge."
Their website has no pricing page (monaco.com/pricing returns a 404 error).
What we can infer from primary sources:
- Flat fee (not per-seat) suggests predictable costs that don't scale with team size
- Blond told TechCrunch Monaco's "main competition is HubSpot" on price positioning, suggesting it needs to be affordable for startups
- The forward deployed AE model (embedding human sales experts) adds significant cost per customer that Monaco must absorb
- With $35M in funding, they're not giving it away — but they're also not enterprise pricing
- Additional investors beyond Founders Fund include Alt Cap, Mantis, and Saga VC — suggesting they have runway to subsidize growth pricing
- The beta discount creates uncertainty: costs could increase significantly when Monaco reaches general availability
- Likely in the $500 to $2,000+/month range given the service component
For comparison, alternatives like MarketBetter offer transparent published pricing. And the total cost of ownership matters: Monaco doesn't include calling, chatbot, or visitor identification, so you'd need to add those separately.
Best Monaco Alternatives
If Monaco's gaps concern you, here are the top alternatives to consider:
1. MarketBetter (Best Overall Alternative)
Why: MarketBetter fills every gap Monaco has — website visitor identification, smart dialer, AI chatbot, and daily SDR playbook. Plus transparent pricing and a 4.97/5 G2 rating.
Best for: B2B teams that need the complete SDR stack, from visitor identification to closed deal.
See MarketBetter vs Monaco →
2. HubSpot
Why: The established all-in-one platform with CRM, marketing, sales, and service hubs. Massive ecosystem and integrations.
Best for: Teams that want a proven, enterprise-grade platform with extensive features.
Downside: Not AI-native. Can get expensive fast. Complexity grows with your needs.
3. Apollo
Why: Strong prospect database with built-in outreach. Similar data-first approach to Monaco.
Best for: Teams focused on outbound prospecting with good data.
Downside: Less innovative on AI than newer entrants. No visitor identification.
4. Attio
Why: Modern, AI-forward CRM built for startups. Clean design, flexible data model.
Best for: Teams that want a modern CRM without legacy baggage.
Downside: CRM only — doesn't cover the full SDR workflow.
5. Clay
Why: Powerful data enrichment and automation platform. Highly customizable.
Best for: Technical teams that want maximum flexibility in building outbound workflows.
Downside: Steep learning curve. More of a builder tool than a ready-made solution.
The Verdict
Monaco is a genuinely promising new platform with a world-class team, serious funding, and a differentiated approach. The all-in-one, AI-native architecture is innovative, the forward deployed AE model is smarter than the "fully autonomous AI" approach taken by competitors like 11x and Artisan, and the early beta testimonials are enthusiastic.
Sam Blond's vision is ambitious: "In the broad category of sales technology, there's a market leader right now. That market leader is Salesforce. We are in the early innings of the next platform shift that will lead to a new market leader." Whether Monaco can be that leader remains to be seen.
However, Monaco has real gaps: no visitor identification, no phone capabilities, no chatbot, no daily playbook, opaque pricing with an uncertain post-beta price increase, and a service model that may struggle to scale with only ~40 employees. For a public beta with no independent reviews or documented ROI metrics, these gaps matter.
Our recommendation: If you're a seed-stage startup evaluating your first sales tool and you love the idea of having Monaco's experienced salespeople embedded with your team, Monaco is worth a look — especially at the discounted beta price. If you're a growing B2B team that needs the full SDR stack right now, with proven results and transparent pricing, MarketBetter is the more complete choice.
Rating: 3.5/5 — Great vision, world-class team, and positive early user reactions. But gaps in features, pricing transparency, web presence, and independent validation hold it back. Worth monitoring as the platform matures past beta.
