Audi built a dedicated initiative with Broadcom, Cisco, and Siemens to move to virtual PLCs. Most manufacturers will get there eventually. None of them are ready today.
Programmable Logic Controllers control every assembly line, conveyor system, and robotic cell across every major manufacturing vertical. But the software workflow around PLC code is completely broken. Updates require physical access to hardware. No version control. Testing happens on live systems. Engineers manually reconfigure logic across dozens of devices every time something changes. Downtime during updates is measured in hours. In large facilities, that's millions of dollars.
The opportunity: Own how engineers write and deploy PLC logic today. As vPLC infrastructure matures through the late 2020s, the platform naturally evolves into the operating environment for virtualized control logic. Own the developer workflow now. Own the runtime later.
We're looking for Founders to leverage their domain expertise, and are convinced AI can deliver the outcomes better than humans to build full-stack, AI Native services in industries where outcomes depend on expertise, regulation, and trust.
Your Partners in Co-Creation:
Forum's AI Studio brings together ambitious people, brilliant ideas, and capital to build the best B2B SaaS businesses in the world, from 0 to 1. In addition to capital and an idea, we provide founders with access to investor networks, fundraising support, and the resources needed to build transformational companies. We've launched 17 companies since 2023, and we're launching 7 more in 2026. We're designed to help Founders move faster, develop better insights, and build companies that have a higher success rate than startups built in any other way.
Forum derisks and accelerates the Founder path by:
A $250K USD investment, and an end-to-end fundraising playbook and network to raise your seed and Series A
A validation partner with proven playbooks, networks, and the systems to validate, unlock your ICP, ignite your sales pipeline, and beyond
The support of our experienced operating team - from business design, product development, growth, recruitment, legal and more
Executing a winning GTM strategy to get to $50-100K ARR, and the right MVP to ensure early traction
A community full of mentors, peers, and leaders
$100K worth of business perks
About you:
Early-stage operator experience, and expertise in the problem space you're building in.
The ability to attract, hire and lead world-class teams
A demonstrated passion for technology’s ability to change the world
A desire to be a venture-backed founder
Canada or US-based, and the ability to collaborate in North American time zones.
Please note, this is not an employment opportunity with Forum Ventures. If you are currently fundraising your pre-seed or Seed round, please pitch our investment team instead here.
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