DC-based Startup Public Spend Forum Successfully Transitions to Phase III SBIR, Providing AI-Enabled Market Intelligence for Government Agencies

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Public Spend Forum (PSF), a Washington D.C.-based data, community and advisory platform focused on public sector supplier and market intelligence, was awarded a five-year, $40 million, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with the General Services Administration (GSA) to provide AI-enabled market and supply chain intelligence, data analytics, and related services to Federal Agencies. The contract was awarded under Phase III of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, and provides an example of a successful transition of small business innovation research from the AFWERX open topic program to a Government-wide solution.

Under the previous research, sponsored by the Air Force Installation Contracting Center (AFICC); Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (AFIMSC); Air Force Contracting Career Field Management Team (DAF/ACT) and Market Intelligence Team (DAFACT MIT); Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND); and Secretary of the Air Force Chief Architect Office (SAF/AQ CAO), PSF refined AI algorithms for demand/supply matching of public procurement opportunities, developed market segmentation for requirements development based on AI clustering methods, and provided a solution for improved visibility into public markets for small, emerging, and diverse companies along with providing visibility into small business capabilities for Agencies.

"We are truly excited to work with Agencies in implementing solutions that actually attain market awareness of emerging and diverse companies and solutions," said Ben McMartin, Managing Partner at Public Spend Forum. "PSC and NAICS Code-based searches and matching is a low value method for identifying which companies can fill an Agency Requirement. By applying Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence across program requirements and industry data, we are using advanced AI-enabled methods to match demand and supply."

Under the Phase III IDIQ award, PSF will provide data solutions and services available to all Federal agencies in the following areas:

• AI/ML-Enabled Market and Supply Chain Intelligence
• AI/ML-Enabled Demand Analysis and Requirements Analysis
• AI/ML-Enabled Tech Scouting especially focused on emerging, diverse and underserved companies
• AI/ML-Enabled Data Analysis and Reporting
• Market Research Center of Excellence (MaRCOE) Service and Data Support
• Supply Chain Studies and Analysis
• AI/ML-Enabled Supplier Intelligence and Tracking

"Lack of market transparency has significant adverse impact on small businesses, especially startups, diverse and underserved companies that already face many barriers in the market," said Raj Sharma, co-founder, and CEO of Public Spend Forum. "We're excited to apply our datasets, algorithms and service solutions to help create market visibility and access that enables government and emerging/diverse companies to come together without friction."

About Public Spend Forum and GovShop
Public Spend Forum (PSF) is a market intelligence data, community and advisory platform that helps government buyers and emerging/diverse small businesses accelerate impact together. Our purpose is to create open government markets by lowering barriers for diverse/emerging small businesses, increasing market visibility and enabling access. We do this through AI-enabled market data, growth and market intelligence advisory services, and an open buyer/supplier community. GovShop, powered by PSF, is our market and supply chain intelligence tool that enables access to data as well as our various member resources.

Contact info: 
Jack Kinney
(240) 601-1317 
[email protected]

SOURCE Public Spend Forum