Melanie Sirisoma Joins Symbium as Interim Chief of Staff to Drive Strategic Growth
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA — September 3, 2024 — Symbium, the leading AI-powered instant permitting platform founded out of Stanford’s AI Lab, is delighted to announce the appointment of Melanie Sirisoma as Interim Chief of Staff. In her new role, Sirisoma will work closely with CEO Leila Banijamali and the Symbium team, focusing on strategic planning and analysis, operational optimization, product management, go-to-market strategy, and key growth initiatives to fuel Symbium’s expansion nationwide.
Sirisoma brings diverse experience to Symbium as an entrepreneur and former Chief of Staff, with a professional background spanning various industries. She previously founded a blockchain venture that participated in the Summer 2023 Cohort of the UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator, and was awarded the Wolfen Fellowship for entrepreneurship. Sirisoma holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management with specializations in Entrepreneurship and Leadership Development. Her master’s thesis explored the application of a multimodal AI model to accelerate building permitting.
“The potential scale of impact of Symbium’s Complaw® technology is incredibly expansive,” said Sirisoma. “They are revolutionizing the citizen-to-government experience by removing barriers in governmental processes, and instant permitting is just the start. As someone passionate about practical, meaningful applications of deep tech, I’ve been excited by Symbium’s progress in democratizing access to deployment of energy-saving projects and I’m thrilled to contribute to their next chapter of growth. With the recent implementation of SB379 (mandating real-time solar permitting) in California, Local Law 97 (mandating building decarbonization) in New York, and Symbium’s rapid expansion, we’re at the forefront of a nationwide transformation in how people participate in global sustainability efforts.”
Symbium has seen remarkable growth in recent months, partnering with approximately 40 jurisdictions across California in the last year alone. The company’s AI-powered platform provides real-time, automated compliance checks for a wide range of energy-saving projects, including solar installations, reroofing, heat pumps, and electrical panel upgrades. Symbium’s ability to perform instant, 100% accurate approvals across countless permit types, seamless integration with jurisdictions’ current permit tracking systems (PTS), and high configurability for each Authority Having Jurisdiction’s (AHJ) specific needs sets their solution apart. Symbium does not replace a PTS but, instead, supercharges it with regulatory compliance.
“Melanie’s appointment comes at a pivotal time for Symbium,” said Leila Banijamali, CEO of Symbium. “Her unique blend of experiences and strategic insight will be invaluable as we scale our operations and expand partnerships across the country. Symbium’s technology has the potential to significantly accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices nationwide by redefining how contractors and local governments approach permitting and compliance. We’re excited to drive innovation in this space, starting with energy-saving projects and extending to all aspects of building, development, and beyond. We’re laying the groundwork for a more efficient, sustainable future for communities across America, and making a lasting impact on how local governments operate and serve their citizens.”
Uniquely Symbium:
Instant Permitting in most cases. Symbium automatically verifies compliance with State and local regulations, ensuring that every project adheres to the required standards. Symbium enables instant permit issuance in a singular, comprehensive applicant-facing dashboard and is SB379-compliant in California.
Real-Time Complaw® Analysis. Symbium provides immediate, substantive feedback on why a scope of work meets or fails to meet regulatory requirements, allowing permit applicants to quickly and easily revise their proposals to comply with the applicable codes.
All permits covered. The Symbium experience is highly scalable. It can be activated for large-scale contractors or local building departments to cover virtually any permit type.
Benefits of instant solar permits:
The automatic analysis of code compliance requirements and instant permit issuance ensures that every application meets the necessary safety and regulatory standards, while accelerating the deployment of clean energy projects by contractors. It also helps local jurisdictions to achieve their goals of strengthening climate resilience and promoting energy efficient capital improvements.
About Symbium:
Symbium is a San Francisco-based company that is reinventing the citizen-to-government experience, with an initial focus on permitting for residential decarbonization projects (e.g., installation of solar panels, energy storage, heat pumps). Using Symbium’s instant permitting service, homeowners and contractors can instantly understand and visualize what’s possible on a property, scope out projects such as solar panel installation, reroofing, heat pumps, and electrical panel upgrades, and then submit and manage permit applications. Key to this disruption is Symbium’s proprietary Complaw® technology, which enables a Turbotax-like mechanization of regulatory analysis and was initially developed by the founding team at Stanford AI Lab.
Symbium is an awardee in the esteemed Third Derivative, Uptake Alliance, and IMPEL cohorts of climate tech companies, the winner of the 2023 Association for Corporate Growth Awards in San Francisco, was a finalist in the 2022 ALP Alain Colmerauer Prolog Heritage Prize, has been recognized as a GovTech 100 company in 2023, 2022, and 2021, is a 2021 American Bar Association Women of Legal Tech award recipient, and is a 2020 Ivory Prize awardee for innovations in regulation and policy to achieve housing affordability. Symbium is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
For press inquiries, contact press@symbium.com
