PADO AI lands $6M seed to help data centers do more with less power
PADO AI, a San Francisco-based startup building orchestration software for data centers, has raised $6 million in seed funding as operators confront tightening electricity constraints amid accelerating AI demand. The round was led by NovaWave Capital, an LG NOVA-supported fund, with proceeds earmarked for product delivery and global expansion.
The company said it will focus on the mid-market colocation segment—facilities that face many of the same power, cooling, and efficiency pressures as hyperscale operators, but typically lack comparable resources to manage them.
Orchestrating compute, cooling, and energy strategy
PADO AI positions its platform around a single metric: increasing compute per megawatt. Its software coordinates power, compute, cooling infrastructure, and distributed energy resources across both “white space” and “gray space” environments, aiming to reduce wasted capacity and improve resilience and profitability.
At the core is AI- and machine learning-driven workload orchestration that analyzes conditions in real time to recommend when and where jobs should run. The platform also incorporates “precision cooling,” placing workloads based on thermal headroom rather than relying on standard scheduling approaches that can create hotspots and limit density. Beyond operations, the software can optimize battery energy storage usage during high-price events, and automate carbon credit reporting and grid stability metrics to support sustainability and compliance requirements.
Founder background and market rationale
Wannie Park, CEO and co-founder, founded PADO AI in 2025. Park has more than 25 years of experience across energy, IoT, and SaaS, and previously held senior roles at Bidgely, Zen Ecosystems, and Inspire Energy. He said the company’s approach bridges data center IT systems with industrial equipment—particularly cooling—to enable more dynamic scheduling, higher utilization, and improved power usage effectiveness (PUE).
Ali Diallo, founding managing partner at NovaWave Capital, said the firm views PADO AI as a way to help infrastructure adapt to power constraints while supporting continued AI innovation. Looking ahead, PADO AI said it is participating in EPRI’s DC Flex working group and plans to expand internationally as “sovereign AI” data center buildouts accelerate.
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