Tag: Nick Smith

Startup ambassadors’ pitch to former Kansas Citians: Move your innovation, hustle Back2KC

By Tommy Felts / September 26, 2023

Kansas City is having a moment, said Liam Reilly, and it’s an opportunity he and fellow Back2KC organizers couldn’t pass up — reviving the tech talent recruitment program amid Chiefs glory, downtown baseball district buzz, KC Streetcar expansion, riverfront revitalization, and a World Cup on the horizon. “We didn’t want to wait another year to…

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Sailes closes $5.1M investment round led by STL firm, with KCRise Fund, Wichita VC

By Tommy Felts / September 14, 2023

The foundation for Sailes has always been solving difficult problems for sales teams, said Nick Smith; the success of a Series A funding round for the startup will power new tools toward that goal.  “Everyone is on this AI hype train, and we’ve been for AI for a while. But it’s not just about using…

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Trio of Kansas City startups among Missouri’s latest equity investments; $2.4M awarded in July

By Tommy Felts / August 10, 2023

Three high-profile tech startups in Kansas City each earned a portion of the $2.4 million awarded in July by the Missouri Technology Corporation, the agency announced this week “We are thrilled to announce another set of awards to support the high-tech, high-growth startups committed to growing in Missouri,” said Jack Scatizzi, executive director of MTC.…

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2023 Startups to Watch: Saile (and its bots) innovates future of sales through digital labor

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2022

Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City scaling businesses to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list. Now in its eighth year, this feature recognizes founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2023’s companies. Click here to…

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Saile closes $1.35M round; set to double team in 2023 as mass production of ‘robots for salespeople’ under way 

By Tommy Felts / November 22, 2022

A Kansas City startup building an army of “Sailebots” — an artificial intelligence solution to a classic industry problem — impressed its new lead investor with its customized approach that avoids a “one size fits all” strategy.  “I’ve been in sales and marketing automation for 20 years,” said Lisa Calhoun, founder and managing partner at…

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