Paul Armstrong co-founds new underground 'POTATO' network for UK tech

During SXSW Lodnon, London Tech Week and the AI Summit in 2025, Paul Armstrong co-founded POTATO with Kate Matlock of Distillery, and they did it the way most useful things get built: quickly, out of necessity, on WhatsApp.

POTATO is now the UK's fastest growing underground tech network, and the premise is straightforward. UK tech needed a space where critical thinking was the entry requirement rather than the thing that got politely filtered out. The network launched during two of the biggest weeks in the UK tech calendar precisely because that is when you notice most acutely what the official rooms are missing.

The network has grown into a dedicated channel structure covering more than a dozen subsections of the industry, including multiple AI channels and dedicated spaces for Createch, Greentech and others. It runs its own events. It is not a newsletter, not a LinkedIn group and not a conference waiting list. It is a working network for people who want to think harder about where technology is actually going.

Find out more at potato.tech.