Mettle Ops: A Small Business Defense Gateway
Marque Ventures Managing Director, Jake Chapman, shares insights on how Mettle Ops, a veteran-owned small business, leverages its innovative model and partnerships to secure significant defense contracts with Eric Tegler for Forbes.
Mettle Ops, founded by Army helicopter pilot veteran Katie Bigelow, has emerged as a beacon for small businesses navigating the challenging defense industry landscape, often referred to as the "Valley of Death." With a lean team and an extensive network of over 200 vendors in the Michigan area, Mettle Ops offers engineering and program management services to the Army, embodying a prime contractor's capabilities with the agility of a small business. Its approach has not only enabled it to secure over $52 million in Army contracts focused on soldier survivability but also to compete against giants for significant projects like the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV).
Key to its success is Mettle Ops' ability to streamline the typically lengthy process for small businesses to enter defense contracting, providing a shortcut to significant defense work and enabling these companies to focus on their core competencies. This unique business model has attracted the attention of Jake Chapman, Managing Director of Marque Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in critical defense technology. Chapman sees Mettle Ops' approach as a "phenomenal model" for integrating new technologies into the defense-industrial base and a strategic method to support startups aiming for early revenue in the defense sector.
Chapman's insights underscore the potential of Mettle Ops’ methodology to enrich the defense ecosystem, offering a diversified and innovative supplier base capable of meeting the military's complex needs. The success of Mettle Ops and its partnership model stands as a compelling example of how small businesses can achieve growth and impact within the defense sector.
By bridging the gap between small businesses and the defense industry, Mettle Ops not only enhances the capabilities of the U.S. military but also fosters a vibrant, innovative, and collaborative industrial base essential for national security. This synergy between small business agility and defense sector requirements highlights the transformative potential of Mettle Ops' model paving the way for a more inclusive and dynamic defense contracting landscape.