Podium Automation, a Brooklyn-based manufacturer that designs and builds industrial control panels, has raised $18 million in Series A funding. The company was co-founded by Jamie Niu Serota, who led commercial strategy and business development at Tesla, Blue Origin, and Bowery Farming, and Jacob Buser, who spent a decade building industrial automation systems in pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, and cosmetics manufacturing.
Control panels sit at the center of nearly every automated factory floor. They are the hardware that tells machines when to start, stop, communicate, and operate safely. Despite how fundamental they are, the process of building them has not changed much in decades. Lead times often exceed 12 weeks, and the quality of the final product has traditionally depended on the expertise of a small group of skilled technicians. According to Persistence Market Research, the global industrial control panel market is estimated at $15.5 billion in 2026 and is expected to grow to $21.7 billion by 2033, reflecting rising demand for automation across manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure.
The Series A was led by Construct Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Transition Ventures, Sunflower Capital, and Banter Capital. The round brings total funding to more than $23 million. Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Construct Capital, will join Podium’s Board of Directors as part of the agreement.
Why Building a Control Panel Takes So Long
Control panels have historically been treated as one-off custom builds rather than repeatable manufactured products. Each one is typically designed by hand, assembled by technicians who carry much of the process knowledge in their heads, and validated manually before it ships. That approach works when you have experienced people, but the pool of qualified panel builders is getting smaller, and the panels themselves are getting more complex, incorporating networked components, safety systems, and software that require a broader range of skills.
Podium’s approach is to encode that knowledge into software instead of relying on individuals. The company’s platform connects customer requirements to electronic design tools and shop floor assembly instructions automatically. Rather than asking an engineer to select the right components from a vast catalog, the software makes those decisions based on the customer’s specifications, relevant safety standards, and real-time supply chain availability. Finished panels are validated in Podium’s UL 508A certified facility, meaning they meet the US safety standard for industrial control panels before they leave the building. The stated turnaround time is under four weeks.
“The industrial economy runs on essential components like control panels, and the legacy supply chain behind them is exactly the kind of foundational infrastructure Construct was built to invest in,” said Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Construct Capital. “Jamie, Jacob, and the Podium team have created the modern vendor this category has been waiting for, and the demand they’re already seeing makes it clear how much the market needs what they’re building.” — Dayna Grayson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Construct Capital
How Podium Plans to Use the $18 Million
The funding will go toward expanding manufacturing capacity first. Podium says demand is growing from a customer base that already spans early-stage companies and large corporations, including Redwood Materials, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, CSX, Hadrian, and Symbotic. Beyond production capacity, the company plans to grow its engineering and operations teams and continue developing the software that runs its design-to-delivery process.
That software is the foundation of everything Podium does. The speed advantage the company claims, compressing what typically takes three months into under four weeks, depends on how effectively the platform can reduce manual decisions, catch errors early, and stay aligned with what components are actually available at any given moment. The software is not a supporting feature. It is the core of how the product gets made.
“Podium is an excellent example of what happens when world-class software meets a foundational industrial category,” said Oliver Hsu, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “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.” — Oliver Hsu, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
Podium Automation: Founders, Product, and How It Works
Podium was founded in 2024 and is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Niu Serota is CEO and Buser is CTO. The company operates a UL 508A certified facility, which is the US safety certification specific to industrial control panels. That certification means customers can deploy Podium’s panels in industrial settings without putting them through additional third-party testing.
The basic promise is straightforward. A customer places an order, Podium builds the panel, and it ships in under four weeks with full visibility into where things stand throughout the process. In practice, that requires software capable of handling the entire workflow, from generating a quote to producing the step-by-step instructions used on the shop floor. Digital models replace hand-drawn schematics. Automated fabrication handles much of the physical assembly. The result is less dependence on individual expertise and more consistency across every panel built.
“Control panels are everywhere, but the way they’re designed and built hasn’t fundamentally changed in decades,” said Jamie Niu Serota, Co-Founder and CEO. “We founded Podium to build the vendor we always wished we had. Ordering a control panel should be fast, accurate, and transparent. At Podium, faster and better are the same thing.” — Jamie Niu Serota, Co-Founder and CEO of Podium Automation
The Investors Behind the Round
The Series A was led by Construct Capital, an early-stage venture firm co-founded in 2020 by Dayna Grayson and Rachel Holt. The firm manages $750 million in AUM across three core funds and a select fund, with a focus on startups modernizing foundational industries including manufacturing, logistics, transportation, and critical infrastructure. Past investments include Hadrian, Copia Automation, and Veho. Construct closed its $300 million Fund III in early 2025.
Andreessen Horowitz participated in the round alongside Transition Ventures, Sunflower Capital, and Banter Capital. SV Angel is among the company’s earlier backers. With this round, Podium’s total funding stands at more than $23 million.
