What Forge Group does

Forge Group, LLC is a privately held, woman-owned advisory and technology consulting firm headquartered in Reston, Virginia, that delivers security cooperation, international engagement, and rapid capabilities services to U.S. federal defense and security buyers. The company was founded in 2017 by a CEO with nearly two decades of prior DoD consulting experience and holds certified 8(a), WOSB, SDVOSB, WBENC, SBA, SeaPort-e, ISO 9001, CMMI Level 3, and SOC 2 Type 2 status, allowing it to receive direct-award contracts and compete under federal small business set-aside categories. Its named customer base is concentrated inside the U.S. Department of Defense and includes the U.S. Army, Pacific Air Forces, the National Security Council, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, and the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force International Affairs, with permanent staff living and working in 45+ countries to support allied and partner programs.

Forge's commercial offering is organized around five solution areas: International Engagement, Strategy, and Policy; Operational Strategy and Execution; Rapid Capabilities (covering legacy system modernization, complex system integration, cloud solutions, data management, GIS innovation, and Agile program delivery); International Commercial Services (ITAR compliance, export control, market entry); and SwiftShield, an automated facial authentication and secure facility access control system deployed in production at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The firm differentiates through its senior practitioner bench — practitioners average 23 years of experience, roughly 40% hold advanced degrees, and approximately 30% are former or reservist military leaders — and reports a 93% employee retention rate, multi-year Fortune Best Workplaces recognition, and a 77% CAGR since 2019.

The business model is professional services: revenue is generated through prime federal contracts and subcontracting with larger defense primes under a quote-based engagement model. The firm scaled from its founding to 51-100 employees, was selected as the only small business to develop the U.S. Army's Foreign Military Sales Case Execution System, and has appeared on the Inc. 5000 in 2023 and 2024. The company is founder-owned, has no disclosed institutional or private equity backing, and is expanding into the Space AOR and commercial critical infrastructure buyers through SwiftShield.

Name

Forge Group

Legal name

Forge Group, LLC

Website

https://forgegroupllc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Forge Group is a woman-owned federal consulting firm delivering security cooperation, international engagement, and rapid capabilities services to U.S. DoD buyers, with a productized facial authentication system (SwiftShield) deployed at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Defense Consulting Services

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Workplace & Collaboration Consulting (BPAHAEAH)

Keywords

• Defense consulting services
• Security cooperation advisory
• International engagement strategy
• Government technology modernization
• Foreign military sales consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Reston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government Consulting Services: Forge provides specialized consulting services to government agencies, particularly in defense and security cooperation. Revenue is generated through contracts with federal agencies and defense contractors, including direct-award contracts as a certified small business.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Forge Group is a woman-owned, 8(a)/WOSB/SDVOSB certified advisory consulting firm that delivers specialized services to U.S. government agencies and defense clients across four solution areas: International Engagement, Strategy and Policy (security cooperation and assistance); Rapid Capabilities (technology modernization, system integration, cloud, GIS, and the SwiftShield facial authentication product); Operational Strategy and Execution (organizational transformation); and International Commercial Services (market intelligence, ITAR/export control, technology transfer).

Product overview

Forge Group is a consulting firm providing specialized government and defense services, not a traditional software product company. The company offers a portfolio of professional services organized around five main solution areas: (1) SwiftShield - a facial authentication and secure facility access control system, (2) International Engagement, Strategy, and Policy - security cooperation and assistance consulting, (3) Rapid Capabilities - technology modernization and digital transformation services, (4) Operational Strategy & Execution - organizational transformation consulting, and (5) International Commercial Services - international business expansion support. The services are delivered through niche subject matter experts with deep experience in DoD and international affairs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SwiftShield: Facial Authentication and Secure Facility Access Control System

Products and services

• SwiftShield Facial Authentication and Secure Facility Access Control System Automated facial recognition and secure facility access control system deployed at facilities such as Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, providing intelligent security design and implementation for high-traffic or sensitive sites.
• International Engagement, Strategy, and Policy Security Cooperation and Security Assistance consulting covering SC/SA policy development, political-military analysis, bilateral and multilateral regional engagement, international agreements expertise, institutional capacity building, Foreign Military Sales Program Development, assessment/monitoring/evaluation, international R&D, Women Peace and Security initiatives, and international training for U.S. government and allied partners.
• Rapid Capabilities Technology modernization and digital transformation services for government clients including legacy system modernization, complex system integration, technology strategy development, low code/no code implementation, government and commercial cloud solutions, automated facial recognition and secure facility access solutions, GIS innovation and support, business process reengineering, custom application development, data management and architecture, data science/modeling/reporting/visualization, and Agile program delivery.
• Operational Strategy & Execution Organizational success consulting services that operate in fast-paced environments, applying tools and techniques used across the intelligence community for tactical and strategic organizational transformation for government and defense clients.
• International Commercial Services International business expansion support for commercial entities including market intelligence and strategy development, ITAR compliance program development, export control, technology transfer, and data exchanges for companies entering or operating in defense and international markets.

Quantifiable outcome

• 93% employee retention rate
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Silicon Valley Defense Group (SVDG)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 November 2024Forge and Silicon Valley Defense Group lead conversations on emerging tech readiness ecosystem. Forge's International Engagement Experts present on 'Exploring the INDOPACOM Innovation Security Cooperation Landscape'.
• U.S. ArmycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 21 October 2024Forge was selected as the only small business to develop a major Foreign Military Sales (FMS) platform to modernize the U.S. Army's Foreign Military Sales Case Execution System.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Booz Allen Hamilton: Booz Allen Hamilton is a major federal consulting and engineering firm with deep DoD, intelligence community, and international engagement practices. It competes with Forge on broad management consulting and security cooperation work but operates at a vastly larger scale across all federal agencies.
• CACI International: CACI International is a large defense and intelligence contractor providing consulting, IT modernization, and mission support services across DoD and federal civilian agencies. It overlaps with Forge on Rapid Capabilities and DoD advisory work, but at significantly greater scale and contract size.
• SAIC: SAIC is a leading federal IT and engineering services provider with strong DoD, intelligence, and civilian agency portfolios. It is a comparable broad incumbent to Forge for technology modernization and security cooperation support, though far larger and more diversified.
• Leidos: Leidos is a top-tier federal systems integrator and defense services firm spanning DoD, intelligence, and homeland security. It is a comparable broad incumbent for technical and consulting services supporting FMS, defense modernization, and international engagement programs at scale.
• ManTech International: ManTech (now under Carlyle) is a federal IT and mission solutions provider focused on defense, intelligence, and federal civilian customers. It overlaps with Forge on Rapid Capabilities/IT modernization and DoD advisory work, but serves much larger program offices.
• Polaris Alpha (now Parsons Corporation): Polaris Alpha was a mid-size defense and intelligence consulting firm acquired by Parsons, with deep expertise in C4ISR, electronic warfare, and DoD advisory work. It represents a comparable trajectory of scale-out from a specialized defense/intel consulting niche.
• Amentum: Amentum is a major federal services and mission support contractor serving defense, intelligence, and civilian agencies. It is a broad incumbent comparable to Forge on security cooperation and DoD advisory services, though with a much larger portfolio and global footprint.

Direct peers

• Octo Consulting (now part of Tetra Tech): Octo was a mid-size federal IT and digital transformation firm specializing in DoD, federal civilian, and intelligence community customers — closely mirroring Forge's Rapid Capabilities / federal IT modernization focus and similar set-aside contracting roots.
• Sevatec: Sevatec is a small/medium federal IT services firm serving homeland security, DoD, and federal civilian agencies with data analytics, cloud, and modernization work. It is a strong direct peer to Forge's Rapid Capabilities practice given similar size, federal customer base, and small-business contracting posture.
• Applied Insight: Applied Insight is a mid-size federal IT and cloud services firm serving intelligence community and DoD customers — directly comparable to Forge's Rapid Capabilities offering with overlapping customer sets and similar scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/forge-group-llc

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 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 Forge Group