In a world where women’s careers, relationships and life choices shift more rapidly than ever, a new startup called Podium is stepping in with a bold proposition: social health is as essential as physical or mental well-being. Founded by Singapore-based Mai Vo and Alka Gupta, Podium is a networking platform designed for women navigating pivotal life transitions.

At the heart of Podium is a precise diagnosis of a silent but widespread problem. As Vo and Gupta discovered in their research, nearly 70 per cent of ambitious women feel isolated during significant life transitions. The issue is not a lack of friends, but a lack of support systems designed for the realities modern women face: career pivots, fertility decisions, or leadership burnout.

“Traditional support systems weren’t built for what women are navigating today,” the founders explain. Their answer is Podium’s distinctive model, which blends AI-powered matching with curated, intimate gatherings that lead into structured programmes and retreats.

The goal, they say, is to build the global infrastructure for what they call social health. As Gupta puts it, “We’re building deeply human support that’s also globally scalable.”

Podium’s founding story is every bit as personal as the problem it seeks to solve. Vo, formerly at Google, and Gupta, who held leadership roles at Grab and BukuWarung, first connected while both were in the midst of significant life changes.

“We met while we were both in the thick of quitting our jobs and entering new life stages like getting married,” Vo recalls. “Our existing circles couldn’t meet us where we were, so we built the platform we needed; one that evolves with us as we grow.”

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The duo piloted more than 65 in-person events in 2024, refining Podium’s membership model with continuous feedback. Vo notes that the response reinforced their conviction. “We’re convinced Podium is becoming a must-have for working women,” she says.

Who joins Podium?

The typical Podium member is a woman in her late 20s to mid-40s, working at global companies such as Google, Amazon, Meta, BCG or Standard Chartered, or building early-stage startups across Asia. Many are in high-growth roles where career acceleration intersects with profound personal decisions.

Despite being bootstrapped for its first nine months, Podium amassed over 300 paying members and hundreds on the waitlist, fueled almost entirely by word-of-mouth referrals. To the founders, this organic growth is a powerful signal of product–market fit.

With new funding, the team plans to scale acquisition through incentivised referrals, product-led growth and partnerships. In a rare twist for an early-stage startup, Podium’s members are also its largest group of investors. What began as a casual announcement that the founders were preparing to raise funds quickly snowballed into an oversubscribed round, with more than 60 per cent of the capital contributed by Podium members, many of whom were first-time angel investors.

“Our investors aren’t just believers, but collaborators who have experienced the product from the inside,” Gupta says. “Our fundraise is proof of women’s economic power today — when something truly solves for our needs, we back it, we amplify it, and we help it scale.”

The founders say members will continue to enjoy first access to future rounds, turning Podium’s community into a strategic engine for its next phase of growth.

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Podium’s business model is a tiered subscription offering that ranges from a base platform membership and peer discovery to curated salons and premium retreats. The structure, Vo explains, creates “a sustainable blend of accessibility and premium offerings.”

Unlike many networking apps that prioritise one-off encounters, Podium focuses on cultivating what the founders call “strong weak ties”: lightly held but high-quality relationships that evolve with its members. Their vision over the next 12 months includes expanding into new hubs such as Hong Kong and Dubai, cities where high-mobility lifestyles often leave women without stable support networks.

In the long term, the goal is ambitious: to make Podium the world’s leading platform for social health. The founders envision a global network where women can find references, role models, and support not only in their hometown but across every central hub.

With fresh capital and a loyal member base, Podium is preparing for its next chapter. The startup plans to double down on product innovation, strengthen its Singapore headquarters and build a top-tier team. International expansion remains firmly on the roadmap, but the founders emphasise that growth will be deliberate and mission-led.

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Images Credit: Podium

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