Groundbreaking: a new incubator for construction software founders 

This autumn we are launching Groundbreaking, a free three month incubator for founders building software for architecture, planning and construction, run from our Vyner Street studio in Bethnal Green together with SKALA, a social media agency for architects and engineers.

Software has become cheap to build. The harder task is reaching the architects, planners and developers who would use it, in an industry that still buys on trust. Groundbreaking brings early founders into the room with those buyers and the investors behind them, and films the whole season so each product finds an audience as it goes.

Cohort 001 runs from October to the end of January, with sessions every other Wednesday at our studio, three supper clubs at The Shard, and live online pitches carried on The Urban Forecast Podcast and LinkedIn. It closes with a finale, Topping Out, on 28 January 2027, where every founder pitches to a room of 150 investors, developers, architects and planners. Taking part is free and founders keep all of their equity.

Our director, Oliver Lowrie, comments: “We have spent years bringing the people who shape cities into one room. Groundbreaking turns that into a full season and points it at the founders building the tools the industry will run on next.”

Applications for Cohort 001 are open until 21 October. Founders and prospective partners can find Groundbreaking on Instagram and LinkedIn, or reach us and SKALA directly.