charles
Charles is a Berlin-based CRM automation platform that helps businesses manage customer interactions via messaging apps. The 74-person company has raised $29M, including a Series A in 2022 backed by Accel and Salesforce Ventures.
The growth story
charles grew from 42 to 74 employees between 2021 and 2026, raising $29M along the way, most recently a Series A in July 2022.
About
Charles builds software that lets CRM teams automate personalized customer conversations through messaging apps like WhatsApp. It integrates with Shopify, Zendesk and other platforms to sync data for marketing campaigns.
The company has grown to 74 employees since its 2019 founding. Its $29M Series A suggests strong investor confidence, with backers including Accel and Salesforce Ventures.
Founders and leadership
Engineering is the largest function with 11 staff. The company has a flat structure typical of startups, with median tenure at just 1 year.
The charles org chart
Andreas Tussing (Founder & CEO) leads 22 mapped leaders with 7 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 16 (-24% YoY), Business Development 8 (0% YoY), Customer Success and Support 7 (-36% YoY), Sales 7 (-53% YoY), Entrepreneurship 5 (-17% YoY), Arts and Design 5 (-29% YoY).
Talent flow
Many employees previously worked at Spectrm (7 hires) and SAP (2). Alumni frequently move to fintechs like Trade Republic or AI startups like Parloa.
Most common previous employers of charles staff: Spectrm (7), SAP (2), MindDoc (2), KPMG (2), McKinsey & Company (1), Roland Berger (1). Former charles employees most often moved to Trade Republic (3), Maltego (2), SPREAD AI (2), voize (2), Parloa (2), Pixaera (2).
Alumni worth knowing
The charles mafia
Alumni founded 10 companies, including Konvo AI (20 staff) and BetterContact (9 staff). Several ventures focus on AI or customer engagement tools.
10Guillem Oliva de Fuenmayor, was Expansion Lead until 2023Roman Hipp, was Business Analyst & Expansion until 2023Tiffany Lu, was Marketing Manager & Digital Content Designer until 2021Niels Post, was Growth Marketing Manager until 2023Haro Trenkler, was GTM & Operations until 2020Leon Heinrich, was Strategy & Growth until 2025
Fynn Merlevede, was Engineering Manager until 2024
Oliver Kracheel, was Team Lead Customer Success until 2025
David Gregorian, was Engineering Manager until 2023
Etienne Köhler, was Product Manager until 2023Web traffic
Traffic mix: 40% direct, 47% search, 3% social, 1% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at charles: Microsoft Excel (21), Marketing (20), Leadership (18), Project Management (18), Communication (16), JavaScript (14), Microsoft Office (13), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) (12).
Where the team actually sits
charles people are concentrated in Berlin, Germany (17), Germany (10), Berlin Metropolitan Area (4), Bavaria, Germany (2).
Search footprint
charles attracts about 554 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $2K a month if bought through ads. It gained 184 ranking keywords and lost 158 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 2.80 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 2.60 / 5
- Senior management
- 2.40 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 2.80 / 5
Frequently asked
charles has 74 employees as of September 2026.
charles has raised $29M in total, most recently a Series A round in July 2022.
charles was founded in 2019 by Andreas Tussing, Artjem Weissbeck, Anushka Naik.
Andreas Tussing (Founder & CEO) sits at the top of charles's reporting structure, with 7 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current charles staff are Spectrm (7 people), SAP (2 people), MindDoc (2 people).
Former charles employees most often move to Trade Republic (3), Maltego (2), SPREAD AI (2).
At least 10 companies have a founder who previously worked at charles, including Konvo AI, BetterContact, Spark Events.
charles attracts about 554 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $2K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among charles staff are Microsoft Excel, Marketing, Leadership, Project Management, Communication.
charles staff are concentrated in Berlin, Germany (17), Germany (10), Berlin Metropolitan Area (4).
charles has about 16 people in Engineering, down 24% over the past year, as of September 2026.
charles has about 8 people in Business Development, up 0% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 44 current and 175 former charles profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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