Circlo

Circlo transforms the drawing review process for architects, engineers, and construction professionals with seamless collaboration, centralised workflows, and actionable insights. As co-founder and head of strategy, I shaped its vision to revolutionise AEC project efficiency.

How It Started

Why does something as essential as 2D information—drawings—still feel so clunky to use?

In an industry that relies so heavily on drawings, it's shocking how outdated and inefficient our tools still are. Despite all the tech at our fingertips, we’re stuck with bloated software, painful load times, and workflows that haven't changed in decades. I thought: what if we reimagined the basics?

So we built Circlo—a fast, lightweight, browser-based viewer that respects how the industry actually works. No unnecessary features, no training manuals. Just simple, accessible, shareable documents that work. Because clarity should never be a bottleneck.

Role

Co-founder & Head of Strategy

My Contributions:

• Product Vision: Defined Circlo’s direction, focusing on simplicity, accessibility, and solving real collaboration pain points for SMBs struggling with costly tools.

• Industry Engagement: Conducted extensive discussions with AEC professionals to validate the $31B rework problem and shape priorities.

• User Feedback Loops: Set up early user testing, refined prototypes through practitioner feedback, and prioritised UX based on field-tested workflows.

• Tech Rebuild Leadership: Drove the strategic decision to rebuild the tech stack with a proprietary PDF renderer, ensuring performance and future scalability.

• Strategic Positioning: Positioned Circlo as a scalable platform, from SMBs to enterprise, with a roadmap for structured workflows.

• Team Leadership: Assembled a focused, cross-functional team, aligning design, development, and end-user experience.

• Go-to-Market Strategy: Shaped early-stage partner engagement, MVP testing, and a social media soft launch to drive traction within real projects.

What It is

Circlo is a lightweight, browser-based platform built on strong fundamentals to simplify and streamline drawing approval workflows for AEC teams, particularly small to medium-sized businesses frustrated by costly, complex tools. Powered by a proprietary PDF renderer, it offers high performance and scalability, with a freemium model making collaboration accessible.

Key Features:

• Centralised Drawing Storage: Secure, cloud-based access to eliminate outdated drawings.

• Connected Collaboration: Real-time, multiplayer sharing and feedback to reduce miscommunication.

• Visibility and Insights: Track review progress and comments for efficient workflows.

• Proprietary PDF Renderer: Custom-built for fast, reliable performance and future feature support.

• Freemium Model: Free basic features, with premium plans for advanced functionality, addressing the 68% of AEC firms facing software complexity.

Vision & Strategy

Circlo started by simplifying the chaos. We built a fast, lightweight, browser-based viewer to support informal feedback and quick markups—especially for small to mid-sized teams in early design. It gained traction with SMBs across Australia.

But that was just the start.

As projects grow, informal feedback isn’t enough. Big work requires structure—sequential workflows, version control, audit trails, and clear accountability. That’s where Circlo is going. We're building a streamlined, scalable approval layer for tier-one contractors, developers, and government clients—without the bloat or complexity of legacy systems.

Whether you’re sketching early concepts or managing a $500M infrastructure project, Circlo grows with your team. We support fast reviews today, and formal, traceable approvals tomorrow. Always simple. Always accessible. Always built around how the industry actually works.

We’re starting in Australia. Next: Singapore and the Asia-Pacific. Our goal is bold—to become the go-to approval platform for AEC.

Because the way we approve drawings shouldn’t hold the industry back—it should drive it forward.

Learn more about Circlo by visiting circlo.app or their LinkedIn page.