Spotable replaces the ladder with smart software, enabling the construction industry to measure and estimate buildings and roofs entirely remotely. The idea originated in a pool supply salesman's garden shed and was built out in a windowless bunker in Ghent. Co-founder Julie Dumoulin, who took her first entrepreneurial steps at Start it @KBC with her previous startup Opinry before joining forces with I-visual, later founded Spotable and participated in the Start it @KBC Sales Sprint program. Co-founder Julie Dumoulin shares how farm-bred work ethic, strict founder agreements, and failed initial software led to a lightning-fast, scalable business.
Every entrepreneurial story has a physical cradle. What was Spotable's "garage"?
"Our real foundation is at the Wintercircus in Ghent. We started there on a coworking seat, but over time we moved to our first small private office where we built our core team: ‘The Bunker’.
It was literally a storage closet between two floors, without any natural light or windows. Nobody wanted to sit there, but for us, it was perfect. It was just big enough for about ten people. Where others saw a dark hole, we saw our garage. Media outlets later sometimes referred to it as our 'coaching room', but to us, it remained simply 'The Bunker'. That is where it really all began for Spotable."
And the very first spark for the technology, where did that ignite?
"Actually even before the Bunker, in the garden shed of my co-founder Sebastien. He ran a pool supply store and wrote an algorithm using aerial imagery to predict whether there was a swimming pool in someone's garden. It was purely a tool for his own business. But he quickly realized there was far more potential in it: for instance, for roofs. That's how we started experimenting, and the seeds for Spotable were planted."
How did you all come together as founders?
"Before Spotable, I was running another startup, Opinry. My current co-founder Pieter-Jan actually applied to work for me as CTO just as I was handing over my previous company. He put me in touch with Sebastien. At that point, Sebastien had his pool store, Pieter-Jan was CTO at another startup, and I was wrapping up my exit. We were all working on different things, but we connected on weekends: freewheeling, building, and seeing what we could do with that raw construction data just for fun. That mix of backgrounds and a shared passion clicked instantly.”
You grew up on a farm. Did that background shape your vision on entrepreneurship?
"A hundred percent. The founder's life is often romanticized in the news these days, but entrepreneurship is primarily just hard, grueling work. When you grow up on a farm, you learn that from the moment you can walk. As kids, we were handed shovels to muck out the stables. That wasn't for allowance; it was just helping out.
We all brought that work ethic to the table. When you are fresh out of school and start a company, you basically know nothing. You suddenly have to be an expert in every domain, from finance to marketing. That farm mentality of not sitting still, not complaining, and just powering through helped us immensely."
Is the environment where you start out really that decisive?
"Yes, in the beginning, everything is hard. Your regular friends often don't understand what you're doing; they're in a different life stage or work a classic 9-to-5. That’s why a community like the one at an accelerator is so valuable. You look for a place where you can spar with people going through the exact same struggles.
A dedicated workspace also helps shift your mindset. Students prefer studying in a library because others motivate them; a coworking space works the exact same way for entrepreneurs. It doesn't just foster focus, it also attracts investors, partners, and talent."
How did the traditional construction sector react to your software in the early stages?
"Extremely skeptical. Our software allows a roofer or construction firm to measure and calculate a building entirely remotely. In a sector that wasn't heavily digitized yet, that raised suspicion.
It reminds me of a story about my dad. When he bought his very first large calculator as a livestock feed merchant, my grandfather didn't trust the thing. He spent days manually double-checking every single calculation to test the machine. Only when he saw that it was right every time did he let go. We saw the exact same thing: in the beginning, customers manually re-calculate everything. But once they realize how much time they save, they never want to go back."
What do you consider the most vital advice for startups in that crucial phase?
"There are only two things that matter in the beginning: shipping and selling. Sales cures all. A lot of startups in our region have fantastic engineers and build beautiful products, but they can't sell them. And that's where things go wrong. Co-founder disputes almost always stem from financial insecurity. You solve that insecurity by generating revenue as fast as humanly possible.
When we raised our first funding round, we already had ten customers. Honestly? The software was terrible at the time. The measurements were completely off! But we did manage to sell it based on the vision. That’s how we knew there was a product-market fit. Refining the software can always happen later, but if you can't sell it on day one, you won't sell it later either."
"There are only two things you need to do in the beginning: ship and sell. Sales cures all."
Spotable grew to 27 employees in just a year and a half. How do you manage that balance and dynamic?
"We build all of our own IP (Intellectual Property) and conduct deep R&D (Research & Development), which makes it incredibly attractive for engineers to work with us. But as for the balance between the founders: that stands or falls on rock-solid agreements from day one.
Character-wise and role-wise, we complement each other perfectly: I handle the commercial side, Sebastien operations, and Pieter-Jan the technology. But we also made very explicit choices about our ambition. We wanted to grow extremely fast. That meant telling each other upfront: “For the next five years, the company comes first.” A lot of founders talk about 'work-life balance' while harboring sky-high ambitions. Those two don't align. If your ambitions are sky-high, you have to be willing to pour in the necessary time and energy. As long as you agree on that openly and honestly with each other on day one, you prevent friction down the road."
Julie Dumoulin, Sebastien Vandendriessche, and Pieter-Jan Philips are the co-founders of Spotable, the tech startup transforming construction through automated measurement software since 2024. Today, Spotable boasts a team of 27, holds proprietary patents, and powers remote estimations for hundreds of roofers and contractors across the industry.
