Wyatt Smith, CEO and Founder of UpSmith: $3.3 Million Raised to Fill the Skilled Labor Gap

Welcome to another episode of Category Visionaries — the show that explores GTM stories from tech's most innovative B2B founders. In today's episode, we're speaking with Wyatt Smith, CEO & Founder of UpSmith, a workforce productivity platform that has raised $3.3 Million in funding.

Here are the most interesting points from our conversation:

• From Farm to Tech: Wyatt's journey from a cattle ranch in Alabama to founding UpSmith, highlighting the value of hard work and entrepreneurship learned from his father.


• Identifying the Problem: Understanding the skilled worker shortage and the need for a solution that addresses both supply and demand in various industries.


• Early Insights and Pivot: How initial attempts to match gig workers with employers led to the realization that starting with the job was key to effective upskilling.


• Innovative Business Model: UpSmith’s model of sourcing, screening, training, and deploying new technicians in less than 90 days, with a focus on aligning incentives through productivity-based pricing.


• Scalable Solutions: The importance of focusing on scalable, repeatable solutions that can expand across multiple states and sectors.


• Future Vision: Wyatt's goal to expand UpSmith's impact beyond the US and into other sectors like healthcare and logistics, creating meaningful work opportunities worldwide.