Tract's Post-Mortem: Why a UK Proptech Startup Failed

Tract, a UK proptech startup, aimed to tackle Britain's housing crisis by streamlining planning permissions. After raising £744,000 in pre-seed funding, they iterated through several business models, including developer site-sourcing, free landowner appraisals, acting as a tech-enabled land promoter, and finally, an AI-powered planning document platform. Despite building technically impressive products, Tract ultimately failed to secure a viable venture-scale business model. The British property market's conservatism, low willingness to pay for software, and the operational complexities of land promotion proved insurmountable. After nearly two years without revenue, they returned capital to investors and shared their post-mortem, offering valuable lessons for future founders on market selection, business model validation, and the importance of prioritizing commercial traction over technology development.