Urmas Purde, Pipedrive Co-founder and Visionary, Dies Aged 46

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Urmas Purde, co-founder of Pipedrive, the global sales-first CRM and intelligent revenue platform for small businesses, has died at the age of 46 after a fatal accident in his home in Bali, Indonesia.

Purde co-founded Pipedrive in 2010 with Timo Rein, Ragnar Sass, Martin Henk and Martin Tajur. From the early years on, he was leading Sales and Business Development and later the area of customer experience, laying the groundwork for the satisfied and loyal userbase that Pipedrive has today. Urmas played a huge role in shaping the unique culture that Pipedrive is known for. His leadership philosophy was based on four principles: learning to trust, not micromanage; making decisions fast; being patient as great things take time; and prioritizing relationships above all.

While building Pipedrive, Purde fought with an aggressive brain tumor for more than a decade. Sergei Anikin, longtime CTO of Pipedrive, shared the following: “As I grieve the loss of my friend and colleague, I am grateful that I had the privilege to know and work with him. For me, Urmas is a symbol of persistence and dedication, both in business and in private life. I admired his humor, brilliance, and values that defined his character. Despite the tremendous hardships on his road, he never lost his positive attitude, sometimes inhuman willpower, and optimistic worldview. I will remember him as a good friend and colleague who felt sincerely passionate about life and living. His absence will certainly leave a huge hole in our hearts.”

Last year Purde published a book, ‘Free Fall’, where he described his journey from a small Estonian village to Silicon Valley, then from Tallinn to Bali, and shared his struggle with his illness and how he repeatedly had to learn to speak and walk again.

“On behalf of all Pipedrive employees, I would like to express my deepest condolences to Urmas’ family and friends who have all lost a loved one and friend. Without his ideas, courage, dedication and hard work we would not be here today. As a Founder of Pipedrive, his legacy will live on. We'll always remember him and his unique contribution,” said Dominic Allon, CEO, Pipedrive.

In recognition of his contribution to entrepreneurship, Purde was awarded The Order of the White Star, 4th Class by the President of Estonia in 2021.

Purde, a father of three, died on March 25 at his current home in Bali, Indonesia as a result of an accident.

About Pipedrive

Founded in 2010, Pipedrive is the first CRM platform developed from the salesperson's point of view. Today, Pipedrive is used by sales teams at more than 100,000 companies worldwide. Pipedrive is headquartered in New York and has offices across Europe and in the US. The company is backed by a majority holder Vista Equity Partners, and Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Partners, Atomico, DTCP, and Rembrandt Venture Partners. Learn more at www.pipedrive.com.