Podium Automation Raises $18M Series A

Podium Automation raises $18 million in Series A funding to scale software-driven industrial control panel manufacturing, lifting the Brooklyn-based robotics startup's total capital to more than $23 million.

Lead

What Happened

Founded in June 2024 by CEO Jamie Niu and CTO Jacob Buser — veterans of Tesla, Blue Origin, Walmart, and Bowery Farming — Podium Automation was built to address one of the most persistent bottlenecks in US factory deployment: the electrical control panel. These UL 508A-certified assemblies function as the central nervous systems of automated production lines, coordinating sensors, programmable logic controllers, and motors across virtually every industrial sector from pharmaceuticals to food and beverage.

The company's proprietary software automates the end-to-end design-build workflow. Digital models replace hand-drawn schematics; automated fabrication and intuitive work instructions govern physical assembly; and the platform autonomously selects and connects electrical components based on customer requirements and UL standards. Each panel ships after full validation at Podium's UL-certified Brooklyn facility.

The result compresses a historically slow supply chain: customers receive a design quote within hours, and a finished panel in under three weeks, against industry norms that can extend to several months.

"Control panels are everywhere, but the way they're designed and built hasn't fundamentally changed in decades," Niu said. "We founded Podium to build the vendor we always wished we had. Ordering a control panel should be fast, accurate, and transparent."

Strategic Context

The Podium Automation funding arrives as the US factory automation market accelerates sharply. The US factory automation and industrial controls market stood at $49.22 billion in 2025, is forecast to reach $54.23 billion in 2026, and is projected to hit $88.05 billion by 2031 at a compound annual growth rate of 10.18%. The global industrial control panel segment is pegged at $15.5 billion in 2026, expanding to $21.7 billion by 2033.

Reshoring is the structural engine. Semiconductor fabs, battery plants, and clean-energy component manufacturers are committing to domestic production at scale, and each new facility requires significant control panel capacity — fast. Incentives delivered through the CHIPS Act and Inflation Reduction Act have compressed construction timelines, tightening the market for qualified panel builders and putting a premium on speed-to-delivery.

Podium's customer base already spans growth-stage manufacturers and Fortune 500 industrial companies, a breadth that reflects both the universality of the product and the firm's positioning as a neutral supplier across sectors.

AI and Technology Angle

Oliver Hsu, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, cited that first-principles approach as central to the investment thesis: "Jamie and Jacob are founders who understand both the legacy world of control panel manufacturing and how to rebuild it from first principles. The result is a combination of product and operational excellence that meets the current moment for American reindustrialization."

Investor Confidence

Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at lead investor Construct Capital, joined Podium's board of directors as part of the financing. "The demand they're already seeing makes it clear how much the market needs what they're building," Grayson said. The Series A follows a $5 million seed round that also included SV Angel, underscoring sustained institutional backing since the company's founding.

Outlook

Technology