Landbase Secures $30M Series A Led by Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures

A Serendipitous Encounter with Michael Dell

While serving as co-CEO of AppDirect, his previous venture, Daniel Saks received an unexpected LinkedIn message from billionaire Michael Dell requesting a meeting.

Dell is well-known for proactively contacting founders of companies that pique his interest. Saks initially doubted the message’s authenticity, as he shared with TechCrunch.

Despite his skepticism, Saks responded. He prepared for the call with a degree of disbelief, almost anticipating a hoax. Remarkably, it was indeed Michael Dell.

The Genesis of Landbase

This experience provided Saks with a crucial insight that would later become foundational to his current startup, Landbase: established recognition significantly increases the likelihood of a response to outreach efforts.

Approximately a year ago, Saks departed from AppDirect, a company specializing in recurring billing solutions for enterprise software providers, to establish Landbase.

Landbase focuses on what Saks terms “vibe GTM,” leveraging AI to automate marketing outreach. Recently, the company announced a $30 million Series A funding round, co-led by Sound Ventures and Picus Capital, with additional participation from 8VC, A*, and Firstminute Capital.

AI-Powered Outreach and the Importance of Trust

The platform utilizes OpenAI’s GPT-4o model, refined through data derived from 40 million marketing campaigns. This refinement process incorporated reinforcement learning with human oversight.

The data was acquired through strategic partnerships with various marketing agencies. The goal was to move beyond simply training the model on company and individual details.

Instead, the focus shifted to identifying patterns within successful campaign outcomes. However, analysis of these 40 million campaigns revealed a surprising trend: over half were unsuccessful, often due to factors unrelated to the messaging itself.

A primary cause of failure was a lack of “trust” in the sender. This echoed the lesson learned from the Dell interaction – unfamiliarity breeds inaction.

Saks emphasized to TechCrunch that first-time founders with new companies face significant challenges in achieving success with outbound campaigns.

Building Digital Trust for Effective Outreach

He believes the solution lies in proactively increasing brand awareness through “very targeted ways,” avoiding a “spray and pray” approach.

Previously, achieving this level of visibility required substantial marketing investments. Now, automation tools enable companies to execute campaigns “in minutes instead of months” with leaner teams.

Saks applied this principle to Landbase, building its own “digital trust” through content creation on platforms like YouTube and his personal website.

Utilizing the Landbase product, the company experienced substantial growth, increasing from 10 paid customers in December 2024 to over 100 currently.

Landbase demonstrates the power of combining AI with a strategic focus on establishing sender credibility in the realm of marketing outreach.

Landbase Attracts Significant VC Interest

Landbase’s successful Series A funding round validated Saks’ initial concept and attracted attention from a highly influential AI investment firm, Sound Ventures. This firm has previously invested in prominent AI companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Hugging Face, Stability AI, and World Labs founded by Fei-Fei Li.

Seed Funding and Initial Traction

Prior to the Series A, Landbase secured $12.5 million in seed funding from investors including A*, 8VC, and Firstminute Capital. Saks had pre-existing relationships with these seed investors from his time at AppDirect. The strength of the founding team, comprised of CPO Emily Zhang (formerly of Carta) and Chief Data Scientist Hua Gao (ZoomInfo), also contributed to their confidence.

Growing Investor Interest

The announcement of the seed funding quickly positioned Landbase on the radar of Silicon Valley venture capitalists. Saks reported a substantial increase in inbound inquiries from investors, driven by the company’s focus on digital trust.

Series A Fundraising and Key Meetings

Following the Series A news and product launch, approximately 130 VCs contacted Landbase within a short period, including Sound Ventures. When preparing for the Series A raise, Saks conducted a series of meetings with 50 top-tier VCs across San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles.

Securing Sound Ventures

During a meeting with Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary of Sound Ventures, the firm secured the deal. Kutcher’s suggestion to refine the startup’s marketing message from “intelligently automate your go-to-market” to “find your next customer” proved pivotal.

Competitive Landscape

Despite raising $42.5 million in funding, Landbase is entering a highly competitive market. Key competitors include Regie.ai, AiSDR, Artisan, 11x.ai, ZoomInfo, and established players like Salesforce, Microsoft, and HubSpot.

Landbase's Differentiation

Saks emphasizes that Landbase distinguishes itself by avoiding the pretense of replacing human interaction. The company’s AI technology is designed to suggest and track, while maintaining human oversight and control through editing capabilities. It deliberately avoids assigning human names or personalities to its AI.

Target Market and Business Model

Landbase is specifically targeting general small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), rather than focusing solely on tech startups. Saks aims to extend the benefits of AI to businesses such as insurance brokers, commercial landscapers, and managed service providers.

Freemium and Subscription Pricing

The startup employs a freemium model, offering a permanent free tier. This is a challenging approach for many agentic startups due to the unpredictable nature of token costs. The free version allows for campaign plan and message automation, while large-scale campaign execution requires a subscription, currently priced around $3,000 per month, with additional tiers planned.