# Marc Bernstein

> Marc Bernstein is the St. Louis-based founder and CEO of Balto, an AI software company that grew from a sales rep's Excel macro into a real-time guidance, quality assurance, coaching, and insights platform for contact centers. His path runs from a teenage stock club and a personal-training company to sales at TopOPPS, where the frustration of remembering good advice too late became the founding problem for Balto.

- **Role:** CEO and Founder at Balto
- **Organizations:** Balto, TopOPPS, DoorStep Fitness, PFITR, BCC Charitable Investment Group, Grounded
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Business Administration; majors in entrepreneurship and marketing, minor in psychology, Washington University in St. Louis
- **Known for:** Co-founded Balto in 2017 and grew an Excel-based sales aid into a contact-center AI platform., Raised a $37.5 million Series B in 2021, bringing Balto's company-reported total funding to $52 million., Received the CCW Excellence Award for Next Generation Leader in 2022.

## Career timeline

- **High school** — Started a stock-trading club and later a personal-training business.
- **2011-2015** — Studied entrepreneurship, marketing, and psychology at Washington University in St. Louis.
- **Before 2017** — Built DoorStep Fitness to more than 100 clients and a staff of five trainers; later worked in business development at PFITR.
- **2015-2017** — Worked in sales at St. Louis startup TopOPPS, where the problem that inspired Balto became clear.
- **2017** — Co-founded Balto with Chris Kontes and Davidson Girard in St. Louis.
- **2018** — Balto secured early funding after its founders pooled their savings and developed a market-ready product.
- **2020** — Balto raised a $10 million Series A.
- **2021** — Balto raised a $37.5 million Series B led by Stripes, bringing total funding reported by the company to $52 million.
- **2022** — Received the CCW Excellence Award for Next Generation Leader.
- **2023** — Named Dealmaker of the Year by Smart Business; Balto expanded into after-call work with Real-Time Notetaker.
- **2024** — LinkedIn lists an Automation Solution of the Year honor from the CCW Excellence Awards.
- **2026** — Accepted the CCW Cloud-Based CX Solution of the Year award on Balto's behalf with VP of Marketing Evan Fehler.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Balto in 2017 and grew an Excel-based sales aid into a contact-center AI platform.
- Raised a $37.5 million Series B in 2021, bringing Balto's company-reported total funding to $52 million.
- Received the CCW Excellence Award for Next Generation Leader in 2022.
- Named Dealmaker of the Year by Smart Business in 2023.
- LinkedIn lists him as a 2022 St. Louis Titan 100 honoree.
- Accepted Balto's 2026 CCW Cloud-Based CX Solution of the Year award with Evan Fehler.
- Hosted the contact-center and AI interview series Baked, Baking, or Dough?

## Latest updates

- **2026-08** — Bernstein promoted Balto's RTG3 release, describing it as ambient agentic intelligence for frontline contact-center agents.
- **2026-08** — He reiterated a people-first view of automation, writing that Balto built its Togo AI agent so staff could spend more time on complex conversations.
- **2026-06** — Bernstein and Balto VP of Marketing Evan Fehler accepted the 2026 CCW Cloud-Based CX Solution of the Year award in Las Vegas.
- **2026-02** — St. Louis Magazine featured Bernstein in its 2026 Business 500 and published his comments on AI as a workforce and on Balto's product progress.

## Links

- Website: https://balto.ai
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baltoceo
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/marcjbernstein
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxH76ba6JWMElLgofZgJ9-Q
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/baltosoftware/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/marc-bernstein
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26