Ashton Kutcher’s VC firm leads $30m series A for agentic AI startup

Summary

Landbase, an AI marketing automation startup, has raised US$30 million in a Series A round led by Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures alongside Picus Capital, with participation from existing backers 8VC, A* and Firstminute Capital. The company uses a GPT‑4‑based platform trained on some 40 million campaigns to automate targeted outreach and tackle what it calls “digital trust.”

Founded by former AppDirect co‑CEO Daniel Saks, Landbase targets small and medium businesses with a freemium offering and paid plans starting at US$3,000 per month. Since launching in 2024 it has grown from around 10 to over 100 paying customers in about a year. The startup positions itself against larger CRM and marketing platforms such as Salesforce and HubSpot but emphasises human oversight alongside its agentic AI.

Source

Source: https://www.techinasia.com/news/ashton-kutchers-vc-firm-leads-30m-series-agentic-ai-startup

Key Points

Landbase raised US$30m in Series A funding led by Sound Ventures (Ashton Kutcher) and Picus Capital, with 8VC, A* and Firstminute Capital also participating.
The platform is GPT‑4 based and trained on roughly 40 million campaigns to automate outreach and improve sender trust.
Founded by Daniel Saks (ex‑AppDirect co‑CEO), Landbase focuses on SMBs with a freemium model and paid plans beginning at US$3,000/month.
Launched in 2024, the startup scaled from ~10 to over 100 paying customers within a year, showing early commercial traction.
Competes with large CRM/marketing vendors like Salesforce and HubSpot but stresses human oversight rather than full automation.

Context and relevance

This round signals continued investor appetite for agentic AI aimed at commercialising marketing and sales workflows. The emphasis on “trust” and human oversight reflects broader industry learning: enterprises want AI that augments rather than replaces human judgement, particularly in B2B outreach where relationships matter.

Author style

Punchy: This is a notable thumbs‑up from high‑profile investors — agentic AI for sales and marketing is attracting serious capital. If you follow martech, startups or AI investment trends, the detail here matters.

Why should I read this?

Quick and blunt: if you work in marketing, run an SMB, or watch AI startups, this story tells you two things fast — investors are backing agentic AI that promises to fix outreach by rebuilding trust, and startups that combine niche focus with human oversight can still scale fast. Saves you the faff of digging through dozens of funding posts.

Ashton Kutcher’s VC firm leads $30m series A for agentic AI startup