Samuel Brashears
| Samuel Brashears | |
| Occupation | Software engineer, entrepreneur |
|---|---|
| Known for | Co-founder of DryMerge |
| Education | University of Wisconsin–Madison (BS, Computer Science) |
Samuel Brashears is an American software engineer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of DryMerge, an artificial intelligence company that automates customer relationship management (CRM) data entry by monitoring business communications. DryMerge was part of Y Combinator's Winter 2024 batch and is based in San Francisco, California.[1]
Career
Brashears studied computer science at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree, attending from 2020 to 2022. He held software engineering internships at MuukTest in 2021 and at Cerebras Systems from 2021 to 2022. In 2023, he worked as a software engineer at Hive before co-founding DryMerge later that year.[2]
Multiple sources report that Brashears dropped out of Yale University to launch DryMerge.[3][4]
DryMerge develops AI agents that continuously monitor emails, calendar events, phone calls, and other sources of relationship data within a business, then automatically organize that information into CRM records. The company describes its agents as performing the work "as meticulously as a great rep would," aiming to eliminate the manual data entry that sales teams typically perform to keep CRM systems current. The platform integrates with more than 50 business applications, including Gmail, Outlook, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.[5]
These AI agents are built on top of what the company calls the DryMerge platform, a broader tool for creating AI agents that integrate with business applications and operate in the background. The platform was initially launched with a focus on enabling users to build event-driven workflows using plain English instructions, positioning itself as a no-code automation tool accessible to non-technical users.[6]
In September 2024, DryMerge announced it had raised $2.2 million in seed funding.[7] The company's clients have included Onyx, Fern, Cartage, ContextLogic, and Altai, among others.
References
- ↑ "DryMerge – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Samuel Brashears – Co-Founder @ DryMerge". 'RocketReach}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Raising $2.2M In A Seed Round, This Co-Founder Dropped Out Of Yale University To Launch An AI-Powered Company To Make Automation More Accessible". 'AfroTech}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Founder who dropped out of Yale University to start AI company DryMerge raises $2.2M in seed funding". 'Face2Face Africa}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "DryMerge – AI that updates your CRM for you". 'DryMerge}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "YC-Backed DryMerge Lets You Build Event-Driven Workflows In Plain English". 'People of Color in Tech}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "YC-Backed DryMerge Bags $2.2M To Make No-Code Truly Non-Technical". 'People of Color in Tech}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.