Sid Khullar: Raising $10M (Pre-Seed) to Build the Agentic OS for Manufacturing

Sid Khullar: Raising $10M (Pre-Seed) to Build the Agentic OS for Manufacturing

Author: Hugo Rauch December 4, 2025 Duration: 37:33

🌊 The Excellence of Machines, Inside Aris Machina’s $10.7M Pre-Seed

How do you build an agentic operating system for manufacturing, and why now?

We’re joined by Siddharth “Sid” Khullar, Co-Founder & CEO of Aris Machina, the company building an agentic OS for complex manufacturing, starting with batteries. Sid previously led Software & AI at Northvolt, where he experienced firsthand the success and failure of the company as well as the manufacturing complexity that inspired Aris Machina’s creation.

In this episode, we dive into what industrial super-intelligence really means, and what it takes to build software that can reason across tens of thousands of parameters, bridge the gap between human operators and AI agents, and transform modern manufacturing.

In our conversation, we covered:→ How Northvolt’s collapse shaped Europe’s next wave of industrial founders→ Why modern factories drown in data but starve for insight→ The “aha” moment: a catastrophic yield problem that no dashboard could explain→ What an agentic OS actually is, and why it’s not “just an LLM”→ How Aris Machina avoids becoming a consulting company→ Why battery factories are the ideal proving ground→ How Sid raised a ~$10M pre-seed after 300 investor nos→ The long-term vision: an app store for manufacturing

***

Links:

Sid on LinkedIn

Aris Machina

Or ask me for an intro!



This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit newwavenewsletter.substack.com

Hugo Rauch hosts New Wave, a podcast that lives at the intersection of business ambition and scientific reality. This isn't about distant predictions or abstract science; it's a grounded exploration of the technologies and companies being built right now to address our environmental future. Each episode focuses on the practical journey, dissecting the models, the breakthroughs, and the hard decisions that define the climate tech landscape. You'll hear from founders, researchers, and investors who are actively shaping this space, getting into the specifics of what works, what doesn't, and why. The conversations move beyond hype to examine the tangible mechanics of creating viable solutions, from energy storage and sustainable materials to carbon removal and regenerative agriculture. It’s for anyone who thinks about the climate challenge not just as a crisis, but as a complex and urgent field of innovation. By tuning into this podcast, you gain a clearer understanding of the economic forces and scientific principles driving the next generation of environmental solutions. New Wave connects the dots between the lab, the boardroom, and the impact we need to see in the world, offering a sober yet optimistic look at where substantive progress is truly being made.
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