Close (legally Elastic, Inc.) is a sales engagement CRM built specifically for inside-sales and SDR teams, combining pipeline management with built-in calling, SMS, and email. Founded in 2013 by Steli Efti, Anthony Nemitz, and Thomas Steinacher, Close grew out of Efti's own sales consultancy and has remained bootstrapped and self-funded, never raising a traditional venture capital round. The company operates as a fully remote, distributed team and has built its reputation on speed-to-value for high-volume outbound sales teams, positioning itself as a leaner, more sales-rep-focused alternative to broader CRM suites like Salesforce or HubSpot.