As software developers Sam Brashears and Edward Frazer grappled with app integration challenges during their internships at Meta and Stripe, they realized that existing tools were often too complex for non-technical users. This experience inspired them to develop DryMerge, a streamlined platform designed to simplify app-to-app integrations using generative AI.
DryMerge offers a natural language interface where users can describe their desired automation workflows in plain language. For example, a user might request, “Whenever I get an email from a new prospect, ping the team on Slack and add them to HubSpot.” The platform then handles the technical details of setting up and maintaining these integrations.
Frazer highlights the core advantage of DryMerge: “Currently, IT departments use complicated no-code tools to automate workflows on behalf of non-IT teams. A natural language interface opens up automation to nontechnical people.”
The user interface of DryMerge is minimalist, resembling ChatGPT's design, with a text-based chatbot managing integration requests. Each request initiates a new chat session, which can be revisited from a list on the platform’s left-side panel. DryMerge supports an expanding array of apps, including Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Salesforce, Dropbox, X, and Discord.
During my hands-on trial, I set up a few automations aimed at managing my busy schedule. Initial attempts to integrate Gmail contacts with Google Calendar and automate data entry into a spreadsheet faced issues, such as the chatbot misinterpreting requests and occasional unresponsiveness. Despite these setbacks, DryMerge successfully set up an automation that transferred posts from my X account to my Discord server, demonstrating its potential for niche use cases.
Frazer acknowledges that the platform has room for improvement but remains optimistic: “We think we’re well-positioned to iterate quickly and nimbly.” DryMerge, which currently has around 2,000 users, was recently accepted into Y Combinator’s Winter 2024 batch and closed a $2.2 million seed round led by Garage Capital, with participation from Goodwater Capital, Ritual Capital, and unnamed angel investors.
The company plans to use the new funding to expand app integrations and grow its team. As the iPaaS market continues to grow—projected to reach $2.7 billion this year—DryMerge aims to differentiate itself by being “10x easier to use” than traditional drag-and-drop integration tools.
Frazer sees a significant opportunity in making automation accessible to non-technical users, noting, “A gigantic enterprise opportunity is in increasing the simplicity of automation and delivering easy-to-use tooling.”
As DryMerge evolves and addresses its current limitations, it could potentially reshape how businesses approach app integrations and automation, making it a noteworthy player in the competitive iPaaS landscape.
