What Thirdwave does

Thirdwave is a privately held Chicago-based custom web development firm founded in 1997, structured as Thirdwave, LLC and headquartered at 15 W Hubbard Street. It delivers full-stack services — technical strategy, front-end development, interactive design, application architecture, and managed systems support — to enterprise clients in healthcare, financial services, education, real estate, nonprofit, manufacturing, and other verticals. The firm operates with a deliberately small team of fewer than 15 staff and maintains multi-year relationships with brand-name clients such as William Blair, American Medical Association, Life Fitness, Ally Bank, A.T. Kearney, Avison Young, Bridgestone, General Motors, and the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Its core technical assets are its proprietary MasterView CMS (supporting eCommerce and product/inventory databases for clients including Precious Moments, Lake Forest Hospital, Dunlee, and Keystone) and complementary expertise across Liferay, Drupal, and WordPress implementations, plus a Covisint Platform partnership for enterprise SSO and identity management. Development work spans Ruby, Java, PHP, Node.js, Angular.js, and React, with DevOps-driven hosting and support as a managed services overlay.

Thirdwave's commercial model is professional services + managed services, with revenue generated through custom, quote-based enterprise engagements. Distribution is overwhelmingly referral-driven: a long-standing network of Chicago design agencies (Conjure Design, Liska + Associates, Kym Abrams Design, PJD, Bill Smith Design and others) introduces clients for technical implementation. The firm has no external funding, no subsidiaries, and no M&A activity on record; growth, such as it is, is driven by deepening existing accounts rather than headcount expansion.

Name

Thirdwave

Legal name

Thirdwave, LLC

Website

https://thirdwavellc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Thirdwave is a Chicago-based custom web development boutique (founded 1997, fewer than 15 employees) that designs, builds, and supports enterprise websites, portals, and eCommerce platforms using its proprietary MasterView CMS and partnerships with Liferay, Drupal, WordPress, and Covisint.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Custom Web Development Services: Full-service web development engagements including technical strategy, front-end development, application architecture, and ongoing systems support. Projects are custom, enterprise-focused engagements typically involving collaboration with design partners and direct client engagement.
2. Managed Services and Hosting: Ongoing systems support, hosting, and maintenance services. The company takes accountability for reliability, security, and performance of delivered solutions through DevOps practices.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Thirdwave is a Chicago-based web development firm that delivers full-stack custom web development services for enterprise clients, including technical strategy, front-end development, application architecture and programming, content management system implementation (anchored by its proprietary MasterView CMS), eCommerce, global multi-lingual website rollouts, intranets/extranets, and ongoing systems support and hosting through a DevOps operations model.

Product overview

Thirdwave is a Chicago-based web development firm offering a comprehensive portfolio of digital services built around its proprietary MasterView Content Management System and the Covisint Platform partnership. The core offering is full-stack web development services encompassing technical strategy, front-end development, interactive design, application architecture, and systems support. Custom Applications are delivered using modern frameworks including Ruby, Java, PHP, Node.js, Angular, and React. The company specializes in eCommerce implementations with payment gateway, subscription, and inventory management capabilities; Global Websites supporting multi-lingual, multi-site enterprise deployments; and Brand Asset Management solutions. Thirdwave operates as a multi-disciplined team collaborating directly with client marketing communications and IT experts to design, implement, and support software solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MasterView CMS Thirdwave's proprietary content management system that enables organizations to manage website content, product information databases, user databases, and inventory, with a built-in e-commerce engine and support for user-generated content submissions. Deployed for clients including Precious Moments, Dunlee, Lake Forest Hospital, and Keystone.
• Web Development Services Full-stack custom web development services including technical strategy, front-end development, interactive and web design, application architecture and programming, and systems support and hosting. Delivered as collaborative engagements with client marketing and IT teams.
• Custom Applications Custom software development services building applications with Ruby, Java, ColdFusion, PHP, Node.js, Angular, and React, including proof of concept development, information architecture, and interactive wireframing for startups and enterprise clients.
• eCommerce Solutions Online transaction and commerce implementations including configurable product and inventory management, secure payment gateways, recurring payments and subscriptions, gifting and donations, event registration, and membership management.
• Global Websites Multi-site, multi-lingual web platform implementations supporting global organizations with localized content, translation workflows, message consistency, brand standards, and portal deployment for large enterprises.
• Intranets and Extranets Internal and external enterprise portal solutions with role-based access control, document management, business process management, employee engagement features, and integration with back-office systems.
• Content Management Systems CMS implementation and management services across MasterView, Drupal, and Liferay platforms for organizations ranging from startups to multinational enterprises, supporting content storage, organization, and multi-site management.
• Brand Asset Management Digital asset management platform and practices for ensuring brand consistency across multiple channels, managing logo formats, icon fonts, typography, design templates, and image libraries for global organizations.
• Covisint Platform (partnership offering) Enterprise identity management and collaboration platform offered through Thirdwave's partnership with Covisint, providing single sign-on, user account administration, supply chain management, and connected devices (IoT) capabilities for large enterprise organizations across automotive, pharmaceutical, banking, and association sectors.
• Managed Services and Hosting Ongoing systems support, hosting, and maintenance services under which Thirdwave takes accountability for the reliability, security, and performance of delivered solutions through DevOps practices.

Named customers29 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CovisintcoreTechnology or IntegrationThirdwave is proud to be a Covisint partner. Specializes in User Experience and Interface development for the Covisint Platform, which includes single sign-on, user account administration, supply chain management, and connected devices (IoT). Has delivered solutions for major automotive manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and financial institutions.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• ArcTouch: Digital product agency focused on mobile apps, connected devices, and custom software development — comparable to Thirdwave's custom applications practice and Covisint partnership around IoT/connected devices.

Direct peers

• Saggezza: Chicago-based digital transformation and technology consulting firm offering custom application development, integrations, and managed services — overlapping with Thirdwave's enterprise custom development and DevOps capabilities.
• Orbit Media Studios: Chicago-based boutique web design and development agency focused on mid-market and enterprise clients with strong emphasis on strategy, design, and custom builds — directly comparable in scale, geography, and service mix to Thirdwave.
• BlueModus: Enterprise CMS implementation agency specializing in Kentico, Optimizely, and Drupal for mid-market and enterprise clients — closely aligned with Thirdwave's CMS implementation focus and multi-platform expertise.
• Americaneagle.com: Mid-sized US web design, development, and hosting firm offering CMS, eCommerce, and managed hosting across multiple CMS platforms including WordPress, Drupal, and Sitefinity — comparable to Thirdwave in service breadth and hosting/managed services revenue mix.
• Digitec Interactive: Mid-sized digital agency specializing in association and member-based CMS implementations with expertise in Higher Logic, Drupal, and WordPress — comparable to Thirdwave's association and nonprofit segments (IIDA, Archdiocese, MacArthur Justice Center).
• Zivtech: Drupal-focused digital agency offering custom CMS builds, integrations, and hosting services — overlapping with Thirdwave on Drupal implementation and managed services delivery.
• Phase Two: Enterprise Drupal agency delivering complex CMS builds, integrations, and digital platforms for large organizations — comparable to Thirdwave's content management and multi-site implementations.

Broad incumbents

• Slalom: Large US consulting firm with a sizable digital experience and technology practice serving enterprise clients across industries — competes for similar enterprise web and digital platform engagements, but as part of a much wider portfolio.
• VML: Global full-service digital agency offering enterprise web development, CMS, commerce, and digital experience work — competitive overlap on large brand engagements, but operates at far greater scale than Thirdwave.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thirdwavellc
• Facebookfacebook.com/thirdwavellc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/thirdwavellc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 Thirdwave