What Proving Grounds does

Proving Ground is a privately held consulting and software company serving the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Founded in 2015 and operated as Proving Ground LLC, the firm helps AEC organizations implement digital transformation strategies, build business intelligence capabilities, customize enterprise software, and train teams on computational design workflows. The company serves a single vertical — architectural firms, engineering companies, construction businesses, and building owners — and sells through direct enterprise engagements alongside a commercial software portfolio under the PG Apps brand.

The company's technical focus is interoperability between leading AEC platforms (Rhino/Grasshopper, Autodesk Revit, and IFC models) combined with data extraction for visualization in Microsoft Power BI. Its proprietary product suite includes LunchBox (a widely adopted Grasshopper plugin for parametric modeling, with LunchBoxML providing machine learning via the Accord.NET framework), Conveyor (Rhino-Revit integration), Semantic (data-driven design with Power BI connectivity), and Tracer (BIM data extraction from Revit and IFC). LunchBoxML is released as free, open-source software. The firm's competitive positioning emphasizes organizational change management alongside technology implementation, citing the high failure rate of digital transformation initiatives tied to cultural and accountability gaps.

Proving Ground generates revenue through professional services engagements (digital transformation strategy, BI implementation, software customization, training) and recurring subscriptions for its commercial PG Apps products (Conveyor, Semantic, Tracer). LunchBox follows a freemium model with a free core plugin and paid version, while LunchBoxML is fully open source. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales for services, an e-commerce storefront at apps.provingground.io for software, and the Grasshopper community ecosystem (Food4Rhino, package managers) for LunchBox. The company has no disclosed outside funding and appears founder-controlled by Nathan Miller.

Name

Proving Grounds

Legal name

Proving Ground LLC

Website

https://provingground.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Proving Ground is a privately held US consulting and software firm that provides digital transformation strategy, business intelligence, and specialized AEC software tools (LunchBox, Conveyor, Semantic, Tracer) to architecture, engineering, and construction organizations worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Computational Design Software

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

DevOps, SRE & Platform Engineering Consulting (BPAHAEAK)

Keywords

• Computational design software
• AEC digital transformation
• BIM data extraction
• Rhino Grasshopper plugins
• AEC consulting services

Headquarters

HQ city

Omaha

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: Digital transformation strategy, business intelligence implementation, software customization, and training services delivered directly to AEC clients.
2. Software Products: Commercial software tools (Conveyor, Semantic, Tracer) sold through the PG Apps website with try-and-buy pricing models.
3. Open Source Tools: LunchBoxML is free and open source, driving community adoption and ecosystem growth. LunchBox for Grasshopper is freely available with optional commercial versions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Proving Ground provides digital transformation consulting services and develops specialized software products (under the PG Apps brand) for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. The company delivers strategy, business intelligence, software customization, and training services, alongside proprietary plugins including LunchBox (computational design for Grasshopper), Conveyor (Rhino-Revit integration), Semantic (data-driven Rhino design), and Tracer (BIM data extraction to Power BI).

Product overview

Proving Ground offers a portfolio of specialized software products (PG Apps) for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. The core products include: LunchBox (computational design plugin for Grasshopper/Rhino with machine learning via LunchBoxML), Conveyor (Rhino-Revit integration), Semantic (data-driven Rhino design with Power BI), and Tracer (BIM data extraction for Revit/IFC to Power BI). These tools work together to enable data-driven design workflows—from parametric modeling in Rhino/Grasshopper to BIM data harvesting and visualization in Power BI. Proving Ground also provides consulting services including Digital Transformation Strategy, Business Intelligence implementation, Software Customization, and Training.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• LunchBox: A plugin for Grasshopper (computational design platform for Rhino 3D) providing components for surface tessellation, geometry analysis, and data workflow. Includes LunchBoxML for machine learning.
• Conveyor
• Semantic
• Tracer
• Conduit

Products and services

• Conveyor
• Semantic
• Tracer
• LunchBox
• LunchBoxML

Quantifiable outcome

• 84% of digital transformation initiatives fail due to inability to change behavior
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• McNeel (Rhino/Grasshopper)coreTechnology or IntegrationProving Ground develops LunchBox as a prominent Grasshopper plugin, integrated with McNeel's Rhino platform. Their tools leverage the Rhino/Grasshopper ecosystem for computational design workflows.
• Autodesk (Revit)coreTechnology or IntegrationConveyor provides Rhino-Revit integration. Tracer extracts data from Autodesk Revit models for business intelligence. Tools are designed for interoperability with the Autodesk Revit ecosystem.
• Microsoft (Power BI)coreTechnology or IntegrationSemantic and Tracer integrate with Microsoft Power BI for data visualization. Products enable AEC professionals to visualize BIM data in Power BI dashboards.
• Food4RhinocoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLunchBox is distributed through Food4Rhino platform, reaching the Grasshopper community of computational designers.

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Autodesk: Autodesk owns Revit, IFC authoring tools, and the Construction Cloud platform — a broad incumbent whose native BIM, data, and analytics capabilities compete with Proving Ground's products while also serving as the platform they integrate with.
• McNeel: McNeel develops Rhino and Grasshopper, the platforms on which all of Proving Ground's products are built — a foundational incumbent whose ecosystem health directly determines the company's market opportunity.
• Arup Digital: Arup's digital and computational design practice delivers AEC engineering consulting plus internal tooling — a larger incumbent that competes for the same enterprise digital transformation engagements Proving Ground serves.

Emerging players

• Avvir: Avvir uses BIM data and computer vision for construction verification and digital twin workflows — overlaps with Proving Ground's BIM data extraction (Tracer) and Power BI visualization offerings for AEC owners and GCs.
• TestFit: TestFit automates real estate feasibility and massing studies inside Revit/Browser — adjacent to Proving Ground's parametric and computational design offerings but focused on a specific use case (site feasibility).
• ARCHITEChTURES: ARCHITEChTURES provides AI-driven generative design for residential and building layout — an emerging player in the same AEC computational design space as Proving Ground's LunchBoxML and Semantic offerings.

Direct peers

• Snaptrude: Snaptrude is a cloud-native AEC design platform with BIM-to-web workflows that overlaps with Proving Ground's data-driven design and BIM extraction value proposition for architects and engineers.
• Hypar: Hypar is a SaaS platform for AEC computational design that lets users generate building options via configurable components — directly comparable to Proving Ground's LunchBox/Grasshopper plugin ecosystem and competing for the same computational design user base.
• Speckle: Speckle provides open-source AEC data interoperability across Rhino, Revit, Grasshopper and other tools — directly competing with Proving Ground's Conveyor and Tracer products in the cross-platform BIM data exchange space.
• CORE Studio (Thornton Tomasetti): CORE Studio is the in-house computational design and engineering R&D group at Thornton Tomasetti, developing bespoke AEC software and consulting services — directly comparable to Proving Ground's combined consulting-plus-tools model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubbitbucket.org/archinate/lunchboxml/src/master
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@provingground5400
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/proving-ground
• Instagraminstagram.com/provinggroundio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Proving Grounds