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§ Public · San Francisco, CA, USA
Tempo Automation is a technology company.
Tempo Automation has raised $73.0M across 3 funding rounds.
Key people at Tempo Automation.
Tempo Automation has raised $73.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Tempo Automation provides software-powered, on-demand manufacturing of prototype and low-volume printed circuit boards. The company leverages proprietary factory automation software to streamline and accelerate the production process, enabling rapid innovation for complex electronics development. This approach allows organizations to quickly iterate and test designs, significantly reducing time-to-market for new products.
The company was founded in 2013 by Jeff McAlvay, Jesse Koenig, Katherine Scott, and Shashank Samala. Their foundational insight stemmed from the growing demand for faster, more efficient electronics prototyping and manufacturing capabilities to support the accelerating pace of technological advancement across various industries. The founders aimed to integrate software intelligence into traditional hardware manufacturing.
Tempo Automation serves leading innovators across critical sectors, including aerospace, defense, medical technology, and autonomous systems. The company's vision is to empower its customers to explore and realize their product ideas with unprecedented speed, thereby revolutionizing the landscape of electronics manufacturing by enabling a more agile and responsive development cycle.
Tempo Automation is a San Francisco-based technology company specializing in software-automated printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) manufacturing for prototyping and low-volume production.[1][2][3] It builds a digital platform that enables rapid quoting, ordering, design analysis, and turnkey assembly through a cloud-based portal connected to smart factories, serving innovators in aerospace, medical technology, semiconductor, industrial technology, automotive, and related sectors like defense, IoT, and telecom.[1][3][5][6] The platform solves critical pain points in the product lifecycle—slow iteration, opaque processes, quality risks, and delays during prototyping to new product introduction—by delivering unprecedented speed, transparency, precision, and agility, allowing engineers to experiment freely and accelerate time-to-market.[1][2][4][6] With 51-200 employees (reported as 125 in some sources) and $78.15M raised, Tempo went public via reverse merger/IPO, positioning it for scaled growth in high-stakes hardware innovation.[2][3][5]
Founded in 2013 in San Francisco by CEO and co-founder Jeff McAlvay and a team of engineers frustrated with traditional PCBA manufacturing's inefficiencies, Tempo emerged from converging trends like shrinking electronics in IoT, additive manufacturing, and robotics.[2][3][5][6] The idea crystallized when the founders recognized that manual, email-driven processes caused weeks-long delays in quoting and prototyping; they built a software-driven "smart factory" to automate and digitize the entire workflow, starting with Bay Area clients in aerospace, automotive, IoT, medical devices, and consumer electronics.[5][6] Early traction came from partnerships with marquee customers like GE Healthcare, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Hitachi Metals, proving the model's speed—quotes in hours, rapid iterations without supply chain surprises—which fueled expansion and $78.15M in funding before its reverse merger/IPO.[3][6]
Tempo stands out in PCBA manufacturing through its all-digital, software-first platform that integrates front-end design tools with back-end factory automation:
Tempo rides the Industry 4.0 wave—digitizing manufacturing with AI, data connectivity, and automation to enable "Factory of the Future" outcomes like faster hardware iteration amid exploding demand for electronics in EVs, drones, robots, and edge AI.[4][6] Timing is ideal as PCBA complexity surges with miniaturization and ubiquity in autonomous systems, yet legacy factories lag; Tempo's platform reduces friction in the engineering cycle, empowering startups and giants (e.g., NASA, GE) to prototype bolder ideas that were previously impractical.[1][6] Market tailwinds include supply chain digitization post-COVID and hardware's resurgence in AI/semiconductors; by influencing ecosystem transparency and speed, Tempo accelerates innovation across verticals, potentially lowering barriers for agile hardware firms and reshaping prototyping norms.[2][3][4]
Tempo is primed to dominate software-defined PCBA as hardware accelerates in AI-driven autonomy and space tech, with its public status unlocking capital for factory expansion and AI enhancements.[3] Expect deeper integration of generative design tools and global smart-factory networks, capitalizing on trends like reshoring and EV/semiconductor booms; challenges like scaling quality at volume could arise, but its track record suggests resilience.[1][2] As the "tempo-setter" for electronic innovation, Tempo will likely amplify its role, enabling tomorrow's breakthroughs today—just as it transformed prototyping for pioneers like NASA.
Tempo Automation has raised $73.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $45.0M Series C in May 2019.
Key people at Tempo Automation.
Tempo Automation has raised $73.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Tempo Automation's investors include Sri Chandrasekar, 01 Advisors, ACME Capital, Catapult Capital, Dimension Capital, Founders Circle Capital, Investus Capital Partners, K2 Global, Mayfield, NextView Ventures, Hans Tung, Owl Rock Capital Partners.
