We build the AI companies that bring people together, in person.
Three companies in our portfolio. A build practice that ships custom AI for the people running events, restaurants, fitness studios, and travel experiences. Each side makes the other sharper.
The screen is a means. Not the end.
Events, restaurants, fitness studios, hotels, tours — the businesses that create in-person experiences run on coordination patterns that have barely changed in decades, and are about to change completely. The ones that adopt AI thoughtfully will compound advantages over the ones that don't.
Generic tools won't work here. The workflows are too specific, the hospitality requirements too sharp, the real-time coordination too demanding. We started pencil because the companies that win this category have to be built inside the work.
Read the full thesis →Two pencils. One drawing.
Everything pencil does serves one goal: the right AI companies for the people creating real-life experiences. We get there two ways.
We spin out our own.
Three companies in the portfolio so far. One live, two cooking. Each one started as a pattern we kept seeing across client engagements.
See our ventures →We build alongside.
We partner with operators where off-the-shelf won't do. The work is named, in production, and the lessons feed back into what we build next.
Build with us →The build practice teaches us what to build. The ventures are what we've learned. Same team, same thesis, both pointed at the same view of where this category is going.
Gather.
AI operations platform for event producers. Real-time attendee flow, run-of-show coordination, vendor scheduling — everything that happens behind the scenes.
Used by 340 event producers running conferences, festivals, and corporate events. Coordinating 2.1M attendees annually. Replaced an average of 12 hours of ops work per event.
2:00 PM — Keynote begins
2:45 PM — Q&A · 3:00 PM — Break
What's on the bench.
Two more companies in active development inside the studio. Specific where we can be, honest where we can't.
Present.
Guest experience platform for hospitality. Smart reservations, preference memory, floor management — everything that makes a guest feel known.
born from: embedded work with three restaurant groups running 40+ locations.
Join the waitlist →Circuit.
Multi-venue ops platform for fitness and wellness. Unified scheduling, member journey tracking, instructor coordination across locations.
born from: a rebuild of the operations stack at a 45-studio fitness brand.
Get early access →We build for the people creating real-life experiences.
A real-time coordination system for their 4,200 annual events. Vendor check-ins, run-of-show updates, and attendee flow — all in one place. Cut day-of coordination calls by 68%.
Guest preference memory across all 32 locations. The system remembers dietary restrictions, table preferences, and special occasions — so regulars feel like regulars everywhere.
Unified scheduling across 45 studios. Members book anywhere; instructors see one calendar. Saved an estimated 1,400 hours of manual coordination per quarter.
A different way to back vertical AI.
we put it on the home page on purpose.
Pencil is raising at the studio level. One investment buys exposure to all three ventures and everything we build next.
Before each spinout's Series A, studio investors have the option to allocate directly into that company on preferred terms. Pass on a deal and your studio position still gives you exposure through our stake.
Talk to us about the studio →Pick a door.
Use our ventures.
Event producers, restaurant groups, fitness studios, and hospitality operators ready to adopt AI off the shelf.
Browse ventures →Build with us.
Operators with problems too specific for any product. We embed.
Start a conversation →Back the studio.
Investors with a view on where the experience economy is going.
Request the deck →