Sales & marketing

Podium

Website
Founded 2014Origin source ↗Checked 2026-10-18

Overview

Podium is the all-in-one AI-powered lead management and communication platform used by more than 100,000 businesses to acquire and convert new customers. At the forefront of Podium’s innovation is its AI employee, who ensures businesses respond to leads instantly, anytime of the day or night—significantly increasing lead conversion rates and revenue.

Podium helps businesses obtain more reviews, rank higher on Google, and consolidate lead channels. Businesses can call and text customers from the web and/or mobile app, send payment links, drive repeat business through bulk messages, and more—all managed and delivered from one easy-to-use dashboard. Additionally, with Podium’s AI Employee and automations, businesses can efficiently handle customer inquiries seamlessly across all communication channels, providing timely and accurate responses that drive sales.

Podium’s innovative work has gained recognition on top industry lists, such as Forbes’ Next Billion Dollar Startups, Forbes’ Cloud 100, the Inc. 5000, and Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies.

Podium was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah. It is currently backed by Accel, Summit Partners, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Y Combinator.

Company description As recorded 2026-11-08
LinkedIn GitHub
Sales & marketingAI agentBusinessesSmall businessesSubscription

Founders & team

Dennis Steele

Founder

Co-founder of Podium 1,100 employees $400M+ Raised (Accel, IVP, YC Continuity, GV) 100,000 Businesses on Podium

LinkedIn
Founder profile As recorded 2026-10-18
1000team members reported
Source-reported As recorded 2026-10-18

Founded 2014 · Source

Origins

I grew up working at my dad’s tire shop, which taught me the ins and outs of operating a small business. Fast forward to college, and I was generating $80K in revenue from running an iPad accessory business on Shopify, a software platform for e-commerce. I started to ask myself why my dorm-room side hustle had access to 10x better technology than my dad’s tire shop, a much more complex operation that did $3.5M in gross revenue. This realization—that no one was building software for brick-and-mortar local businesses—ultimately led Dennis and me to start Podium. Along the way, many investors told us to focus on Enterprise, given the price sensitivity and volatility of the SMB customer segment. While we were tempted to pivot when we got to Y-Combinator, our unwavering belief in small businesses and dedication to helping them grow became the core of Podium’s success. We believe the greatest opportunities for impact are often found in underserved, unglamorous markets that most people overlook.

Founder account As recorded 2026-10-18

News & product activity

Sources & observations

Accel · Y Combinator

Profile depthenriched profile
Website observationwebsite reachable
Last website check2026-11-11
Location · source statedLehi, UT, USA
Pricing evidenceA pricing page was detected
Maturity: Operating · 4 of 6 areas documented

Source-based assessment · automated evidence rules

The company website explicitly reports customer or user adoption. This is a source-based assessment of a company claim; scale and revenue are not independently verified.

Company website: home Checked 2026-09-23

60,000+ businesses trust Podium

Maturity is an evidence-based assessment, not a success rating. It may understate the current stage where evidence is limited. Coverage records documented areas, not a complete or independently audited company history.

Stage definitions
independent websitesource corroborationreachable websitedescriptive evidenceclassified market and modelsourced peoplesourced founding yearpricing page observed
startup.observe Directory coverage · Sources & method