What Foraker Labs does

Foraker Labs operates under the brand Breakwater and is a privately held US software services firm headquartered in Louisville, Colorado, founded in 2015. The company specializes exclusively in Ruby on Rails development and 24/7 support for organizations that already operate Rails applications but lack the internal team or willingness to maintain them long-term. Its stated wedge is the post-launch abandonment problem - many agencies and contractors disengage after initial project delivery, and Breakwater positions itself as the long-term support partner that competitors will not be.

Service delivery is organized around five revenue streams: ongoing feature development on existing Rails applications, 24/7 managed support, technology strategy consulting, security and hosting audits, and source code audits. Underlying technology is a conventional Rails stack (Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL, Backbone.js on the frontend, Heroku for hosting with AWS as supporting cloud infrastructure). Notable client deliverables include a personalization engine for Breastcancer.org that matches articles to user pathology and demographics, and a ruggedized mobile container-management application for Interport that integrates with the client's ERP and tolerates intermittent connectivity. The company has open-sourced a Heroku dyno scaling tool (Heroku Scaler) that doubles as a marketing asset within the Rails community.

The business model is custom-quote professional services and managed support, sold direct to US-based clients with no disclosed pricing tiers, no channel partners, and no resellers. Go-to-market is sales-led and content-driven, leaning on a technical blog, case studies, and a quarterly email newsletter. The named leadership team is small - President & CEO Stirling Olson and CTO Tom Piekos - and the company shows no disclosed funding, no M&A activity, and no international footprint. Customer logos span healthcare nonprofit (Breastcancer.org, Cancer Careers), logistics (Interport), education (SchoolVault), publishing (Bull Publishing), and a startup (ToMarket), with Breastcancer.org and Interport functioning as the marquee reference accounts.

Name

Foraker Labs

Legal name

Breakwater Limited

Website

https://foraker.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Foraker Labs, operating as Breakwater, is a privately held US software services firm that provides ongoing Ruby on Rails development and 24/7 support to companies lacking internal Rails teams, serving clients in healthcare, logistics, education, and publishing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulder

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, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Ongoing Feature Development: Building new features on top of existing Ruby on Rails applications. Services include one-time tasks, bringing new business functions online, and major Rails upgrades.
2. 24/7 Support Services: Round-the-clock support for Ruby on Rails applications. Provides emergency response, bug fixes, and ongoing maintenance coverage that most vendors do not offer.
3. Technology Strategy Consulting: Creative thinking and problem-solving services. Includes workshopping new ideas, risk mitigation planning, and recommendations for optimizing business technology decisions.
4. Security and System Audits: Auditing hosting and server setup, backup planning, risk mitigation, and keeping systems safe and up to date.
5. Software Code Audits: Examining source code to identify blind spots, bottlenecks, and quality issues to ensure applications can handle the addition of new features over time.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Foraker Labs (operating as Breakwater) is a US-based software consultancy that develops and maintains custom Ruby on Rails web and mobile applications for client companies. The firm specializes in post-launch support and ongoing feature development for organizations that already run on Rails but lack in-house teams, offering 24/7/365 monitoring and on-call coverage, technology strategy consulting, and security and source-code audits. Revenue is generated through long-term service engagements rather than one-off build projects.

Product overview

Foraker Labs operates Breakwater, a software service company focused exclusively on supporting and expanding Ruby on Rails products for companies needing ongoing maintenance help. The company offers a portfolio of services including ongoing feature development, 24x7 support, technology strategy consulting, and security and software code audits. Their model centers on partnering with clients long-term rather than pursuing one-time build projects, providing Ruby on Rails expertise, crisis management, and technology investment protection. The company develops custom Ruby on Rails web applications (sometimes with companion mobile applications) for clients across various industries. Notable client projects include Breastcancer.org (a nonprofit health information website with a personalization engine) and Interport (an intermodal container depot management system).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ruby on Rails Development and 24/7 Support Ongoing Ruby on Rails development, feature delivery, and 24/7/365 support and maintenance for companies running production Rails applications without full in-house teams. Aimed at CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and technical founders of mid-market and enterprise firms that need expert Rails coverage, emergency response, and continuous feature work.
• Technology Strategy Consulting Workshops, ideation sessions, and strategic recommendations to help clients evaluate new product ideas, mitigate technology risk, and optimize business technology decisions. Targeted at leadership of companies making bets on Rails-based or adjacent technology investments.
• Security and System Audits Auditing of client hosting and server setup, backup planning, risk mitigation, and ongoing hardening to keep Rails-based systems safe and up to date.
• Software Code Audits Source code examination to identify blind spots, bottlenecks, and quality issues so client Rails applications can reliably absorb new features over time.

Quantifiable outcome

• Phone calls from clients dropped dramatically after Interport web application launch
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Planet Argon: A Ruby on Rails agency specializing in ongoing maintenance, performance audits, and rescue work for Rails applications. Highly comparable to Breakwater's positioning around 24/7 support and long-term Rails stewardship for clients without full internal teams.
• DockYard: A digital product consultancy with deep Ruby on Rails expertise, providing custom development, support, and modernization services. Comparable to Breakwater in serving clients needing ongoing support for Rails applications.
• thoughtbot: A well-known Ruby on Rails consultancy and product design studio offering development, maintenance, and consulting services. Directly competes with Breakwater in the same niche of Rails-focused software services for mid-market and enterprise clients.
• Hashrocket: A Ruby on Rails and Elixir consultancy offering custom development, maintenance, and pair-programming engagements. Directly comparable to Breakwater as a Rails-focused boutique with similar client base and service offerings.
• Gaslight: A software development consultancy focused on Ruby on Rails and modern web stacks, offering both build and maintenance work. Comparable to Breakwater in targeting clients with existing Rails apps needing expert support.
• Probo: A US-based software development agency providing Ruby on Rails development, maintenance, and managed services. Directly comparable to Breakwater's service model and target customer base.
• Revelry: A custom software consultancy that builds and maintains Rails applications for startups and mid-market companies. Comparable to Breakwater as a Rails-focused agency providing full-stack development and ongoing support.

Emerging players

• Bark: A marketplace connecting businesses with software developers and agencies. Indirectly comparable to Breakwater as an alternative channel for clients seeking Rails expertise, though it competes on a fundamentally different marketplace model.

Broad incumbents

• Gorilla Logic: A larger nearshore software development firm offering full-stack and Ruby on Rails services with Agile pods. Comparable to Breakwater in the Rails support space but with significantly larger scale and onshore/nearshore delivery model.
• Toptal: A large freelance talent marketplace with a sizable Ruby on Rails expert pool. Reaches similar buyers (companies needing Rails talent) but with a fundamentally different freelance-based delivery model rather than Breakwater's dedicated long-term team approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/forakerlabs
• Facebookfacebook.com/forakerdesign
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/foraker-design

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Foraker Labs