For hardware and deep-tech founders
A costed, buildable design from one paragraph.
Send a paragraph. In a few days, get six parts in one live Excel workbook. Every number is a traceable formula, so you, your engineers or an investor can check it and change it.
- ~10 MWfloating AI data centre designed with Anvil
- 6parts in one live Excel workbook
- 1paragraph is all you need to send
- £2,500per Design Dossier, fixed price
What you gain
A costed design investors can check
Answer investors' first questions
A costed design, bill of materials and financial model that investors can open, check and change for themselves.
A first costed design in days
Six parts in one live workbook in a few days, so you can test the idea before committing to a long design programme.
Know the cost before you build
The true cost and the bill of materials before you spend on prototypes or lock in a design.
See the risks while they are cheap to fix
Worked calculations and a risk and regulatory register bring problems to the surface early, when changing the design costs least.
Know what you are building before you fund it.
- A promising concept is not yet a buildable design.
- A cost needs a bill of materials, assumptions and calculations behind it.
- Founders and investors need to inspect the model, not accept a black-box answer.
The Design Dossier puts the design, costs, drawings, calculations and risk and regulatory register in one live workbook.
How it works
From one paragraph to a design you can inspect
Send a short brief
Use the brief form to describe what you want to build. A paragraph is enough. More detail gives a tighter result. No calls are needed.
Anvil builds it from first principles
Fractional Forge’s design engine starts with engineering inputs and calculations. It uses open, peer-reviewed engineering libraries and real component pricing. You can fix the budget, footprint or output.
You get a live workbook
The finished Design Dossier arrives by email as a live Excel workbook, with its assumptions, methods and sources shown so your team can check every number.
Set the budget, footprint or required output and Anvil designs around it. Change your mind and it re-solves the design.
What you get
Six parts, one live workbook
A system design built around your brief, constraints and required output.
The components and quantities behind the design, using real component pricing.
The costs behind the design, with assumptions and formulas shown. Change an input and the workbook recalculates.
Engineering drawings for the proposed design.
The engineering calculations with inputs, formulas, methods and sources shown.
The risks, assumptions and regulatory matters to check as the project develops.
Worked examples
Real designs from the same engine
Two worked examples show the range. The same engine has also been applied to grid-scale battery storage, vertical farms, CO₂ capture and power-to-liquid aviation fuel.
A floating AI data centre
A floating AI data centre of about 10 MW, gas-powered and designed with Anvil on a barge. Photoreal renders were produced from the 3D model.
Renders from the 3D model show the barge at sea and the deck.
A water-treatment plant
Read the worked cost breakdown or open the example package.
A plant render and general-arrangement drawing are available. Worked cost breakdown Example packageFirst principles. Sources shown.
Anvil uses open, peer-reviewed engineering libraries and real component pricing. Every number in the workbook traces back to its inputs, method and source.
- Examples include PyBaMM for batteries, CoolProp for fluid properties, PandaPower for power networks and IAPWS-IF97 for steam and water.
- You or an investor can change an assumption and see the result recalculate throughout the workbook.
- It is a rigorous first pass, not a guarantee. Its assumptions remain visible so they can be checked.
- Fractional Forge is run by Tristan Fischer. He worked in project finance at Citigroup and at Shell Technology Ventures, and took a company public on AIM.
Price
One fixed price
£6,000 a month
for up to three Design Dossiers. Advisory and fundraising introductions are on a success-fee basis: no raise, no fee.
- Not a black box. Every number traces to an input, method and source.
- Not a guarantee, and not a substitute for your own engineers' sign-off. It is a rigorous first pass, made to be checked.
- Not locked to the first answer. Change an assumption and the live workbook recalculates.
- No calls required. A paragraph through the brief form is enough to begin.
Who is behind it
Run by Tristan Fischer
Tristan has been chief executive or a board director of fourteen companies, almost all hard technology. He has built three greenfield industrial sites, including a 25,000 m² automated factory at Fischer Farms, and raised around £200m. He started in project finance at Citigroup and ran corporate venture investments at Shell Technology Ventures.
More about TristanQuestions
What do I need to send?
A short description through the brief form. One paragraph is enough. Include the output, budget, footprint or other fixed constraints if you know them. More detail produces a tighter result.
How long does it take?
You receive the Design Dossier by email in a few days.
What kinds of hardware are strongest?
The strongest focus lines are battery energy storage, water treatment, electric motor sets and medical assay machines. You can also brief other hardware.
What does it cost?
£2,500 per Design Dossier, or £6,000 a month for up to three. Advisory and fundraising introductions are available on a success-fee basis: no raise, no fee.
How reliable is the result?
It is a rigorous first pass, not a guarantee, and your own engineers should check it before you rely on it. Anvil works from first principles, uses open engineering libraries and real component pricing, and shows every assumption and formula so the work can be checked.
How does Design Dossier fit within Fractional Forge?
It is one of four Fractional Forge services run by Tristan Fischer. The others are Condition Desk, Habitat Draft and Bid Check.
Send a brief
Send one paragraph. Get a design you can inspect and change, for a fixed £2,500. Questions? Email tristan.fischer@fractionalforge.app.