Balto Software raises $1.2 million and is 'aggressively hiring'
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Balto Software of St. Louis, which uses artificial intelligence to make call-center representatives more effective, announced Thursday that it has raised $1.2 million in capital.

Chris Kontes, president and founder, said that with the money in hand, Balto is "aggressively hiring" for sales and engineering positions. The firm currently employs 13 people.

The investment round was led by Stage Venture Partners of Los Angeles and includes money from seven early-stage funds and two individuals.

The other funds are TIA Ventures and Venture for America Seed Fund, both based in New York, SaaS Ventures of Bethesda, Md., and three Chicago funds: Harbor Street Ventures, Sandalphon Capital and OCA Ventures.  The individual investors are William Murphy, chief technology officer at New York-based Blackstone Group, and San Francisco entrepreneur Miles Laster.

Balto was founded in 2017 by entrepreneurs with experience at TopOpps, another St. Louis software firm. Balto's artificial intelligence software analyzes sales representatives' conversations in real time to help them avoid mistakes and close more sales.

Wills Hapworth