Daniel Saks learned an important lesson during his tenure as co-CEO of AppDirect when he unexpectedly received a LinkedIn message from billionaire Michael Dell requesting a meeting. Initially dismissing the invitation as potentially fake, Saks nonetheless engaged and was astonished when it turned out to genuinely be Dell. This experience underscored the value of digital reputation: when people know you or your brand and trust your outreach, they respond.
Drawing upon this insight, Saks founded Landbase roughly a year after leaving AppDirect, an enterprise software firm known for streamlining billing processes. Landbase applies artificial intelligence to automate and enhance sales outreach, a strategy Saks succinctly refers to as “vibe GTM” (go-to-market). The goal of Landbase’s AI-driven platform is to systematically generate digital trust, persuading prospects that outreach efforts come from credible sources worthy of their attention.
On Thursday, Landbase announced it secured a $30 million Series A funding round co-led by celebrity-investor Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures and existing investor Picus Capital. The round also saw participation from previous backers including Firstminute Capital, 8VC, and A*. This fresh capital follows the startup’s earlier $12.5 million seed round closed last September.
The core technology behind Landbase’s product leverages OpenAI’s GPT-4o model, which has been extensively fine-tuned on data derived from roughly 40 million marketing campaign examples provided by partner agencies and evaluated through reinforcement learning techniques enhanced by human oversight. Initially, the assumption had been that successful outreach hinged primarily upon crafting compelling copy and personalized targeting. However, Saks and his team discovered something unexpected from analyzing millions of campaigns: over half of outreach attempts failed not because of poor messaging, but because recipients lacked sufficient trust in the sender’s identity.
Reflecting on his earlier interaction with Dell, Saks recognized another truth—without recognition or perceived legitimacy, outreach messages routinely go unanswered. Startup founders, particularly those new to entrepreneurship, often struggle to secure responses because they lack established credibility. Addressing this challenge, Saks emphasizes the necessity for young companies to cultivate “digital trust,” carefully building their online reputations through targeted and relevant content distribution.
Practicing what he preaches, Saks invested significantly in generating content around Landbase and his personal brand. Leveraging platforms like YouTube and his personal website, Saks managed to sharply raise Landbase’s visibility among prospects and investors alike. The strategy has paid off: from a modest tally of 10 paying clients at the close of 2024, the startup rapidly expanded its customer base to more than 100 by mid-2025.
The heightened visibility also translated directly into increased investor interest following the company’s Series A announcement. Nearly 130 venture capitalists proactively reached out to learn about potential investment opportunities. When it came time to formally raise its Series A round, Saks arranged face-to-face meetings spanning San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles, engaging fifty of the most promising potential backers. Ultimately, Kutcher and partner Guy Oseary’s firm, Sound Ventures, sealed the deal by convincingly suggesting Landbase adopt a simpler, more powerful marketing slogan: “Find Your Next Customer.”
Despite successfully raising a total of $42.5 million, Landbase faces considerable competition in an already crowded market. Its rivals include heavily-funded sales automation startups like Regie.ai, AiSDR, Artisan, 11x.ai, and larger established players such as Salesforce, Microsoft, HubSpot, and ZoomInfo. However, Landbase differentiates itself clearly by positioning the technology as a supportive partner to human marketers rather than replacing them entirely. Unlike competitors that adopt humanized AI personas, Landbase frames itself transparently as an intelligent assistant helping real people improve their marketing outcomes.
Further distinguishing itself from typical enterprise-focused startups, Landbase targets smaller and medium-sized businesses across diverse industries instead of typical technology companies alone. Saks sees incredible growth potential in supporting traditional industries—such as insurance brokers, landscape companies, and managed technology services firms—in digitizing and automating their sales outreach strategies.
Finally, Landbase’s business model includes a freemium tier offering permanently free access to basic features, allowing users to develop campaign plans and create marketing messages. However, scaling those campaigns broadly requires a paid subscription, priced around $3,000 a month, with plans for additional pricing options set to launch later. This tiered approach remains attractive, even as most AI-driven competitors struggle to operate viable freemium services due to unpredictable costs associated with AI model usage.
