Design engineering for climate & civic tech

We build small, precise interventions at the point of greatest leverage.

WHAT WE DO

We bring together the research and design that make complex systems legible, and the engineering that turns them into tools people actually use.

Research & systems thinking

Before we build anything, we figure out where the real leverage is: how the data, the people, and the constraints actually fit together. Getting the problem right is half the job.

Product & platform development

We design and build what the problem needs: data platforms, decision tools, instruments rugged enough to work in the field, not just the demo.

Data visualization & communication

We make complex data legible: something someone can take in at a glance and trust, whatever language they read or place they're in.

WHAT WE BUILT

We work at the seam between complex data and human experience; moving into unfamiliar problems quickly and working across the usual divides.

A platform for meteorologists calibrating triggers for drought anticipatory action.

The Problem

Droughts are usually visible in seasonal forecasts months before they take hold. But governments still have to decide when to release aid before the drought arrives. This threshold is called a trigger, and calibrating it is a complex technical decision that only about a third of the countries facing drought currently understand.

The Intervention

Ground State is an open-source platform for calibrating and monitoring those triggers, built with Mozambique's National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) and the World Food Programme. It carries a national team through the various phases of the drought year.

Created in partnership with the World Food Programme and the government of Mozambique.

WHO WE ARE

We've built products and systems at some of the most rigorous organizations in tech, consulting, and the public sector, where the problems are complex and precision is a necessity.

Mitul Iyengar

Co-founder

Luke Fiorante

Co-founder

Mitul brings a decade in product design and research across Spotify, McKinsey & Company, and the UN, designing data tools that range from artist-facing products used at global scale to systems that turn risk data into proactive policy.

Luke brings a decade in software engineering across Google, Waymo, and NASA JPL, building tools that range from consumer products at planetary scale to a visual analytics platform for the Perseverance rover.

Mitul Iyengar

Co-founder

Luke Fiorante

Co-founder

We bring that rigor without the bureaucracy; a small team that moves fast, works across disciplines, and tends to land on the solution that wasn't obvious. Curious what that could look like for you?

Let's chat