B/CORE Acquires Fuel Consulting, Fusing Tech Speed with Deep Mission Expertise

By Susan Powell

RESTON, Va. – March 05, 2026 – National security technology firm B/CORE announced today it has acquired Fuel Consulting, LLC, a highly regarded advisory firm with deep roots in the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC). The move is a significant step in B/CORE's strategy to accelerate the delivery of advanced technology to the nation's most critical national security missions by integrating its engineering prowess with two decades of embedded operational experience.

The acquisition unites B/CORE’s rapid technology development capabilities with Fuel's team of seasoned mission advisors, whose members average 27 years of experience. This combination aims to shorten the lengthy cycle from identifying an operational need to deploying a functional solution within the Intelligence Community and Department of War (DoW).

A Deliberate Strategy of Platform Growth

This acquisition is the latest in a calculated series of moves orchestrated by B/CORE and its private equity parent, NewSpring Holdings. Since its formation in July 2023 through the initial acquisition of Bridge Core, B/CORE has been aggressively building a comprehensive federal technology platform. The company has systematically integrated specialized firms to create a powerhouse of capabilities, including:

• GeoYeti (September 2023): Bolstered data science and advanced analytics for intelligence needs.
• teKnoluxion (October 2023): Added deep expertise in software engineering and secure hybrid cloud solutions.
• 2Twelve Solutions (May 2024): Enhanced capabilities in digital transformation and user-centric platform development.

Fuel Consulting represents the fifth and perhaps most strategically distinct piece of this puzzle. While previous acquisitions focused on building technical depth in areas like AI/ML, DevSecOps, and multi-INT analytics, the Fuel acquisition brings a different, yet critical, asset: profound mission context.

This strategy is emblematic of NewSpring Holdings' broader federal investment approach. The firm, which sold its successful Avantus Federal platform for $590 million in 2022, has since established three new platforms—B/CORE, C Speed, and Xpect Solutions—each targeting a distinct segment of the government services market. To guide this expansion, NewSpring formed a high-powered Federal Advisory Board in 2024, populated with government and industry veterans, signaling a long-term commitment to building dominant players in the federal space.

Injecting Two Decades of Embedded Expertise

Founded nearly two decades ago by Heidi Gerhards, a former CIA officer, Fuel Consulting carved out a unique and trusted position within the IC. The firm is not a typical contractor but a team of deeply embedded advisors who have worked alongside their government counterparts, often for over a decade, inside some of the most sensitive directorates and mission centers.

Fuel's expertise lies in navigating complex organizational transformations and ensuring new technologies have a tangible impact. The firm’s past successes provide a clear picture of its value. Projects have included reinventing information-sharing practices for a key IC customer, implementing process improvements that stabilized network operations for an IC internet service provider, and playing a critical role over ten years in designing and initializing an advanced analytics data mart for a counterterrorism client.

In one notable instance, Fuel's experts developed algorithms that identified and fixed critical errors in a national signals intelligence (SIGINT) architecture, leading to significant improvements in geolocation accuracy—a direct impact on mission outcomes. This is the kind of mission-specific knowledge that cannot be easily replicated.

Culture as a 'Force Multiplier'

In the high-stakes world of national security, trust and culture are paramount. Both companies' leaders emphasized this as a core driver of the acquisition. B/CORE CEO Chad Kim lauded Fuel's unique culture, built on a foundation of trust and mission-focused execution.

"At B/CORE, we believe culture is a force multiplier. What Heidi has built is rare," Kim said in a statement. "She created a company grounded in trust, humility, and mission-first execution. That's why her team has been welcomed into some of the most important spaces in the IC. We are gaining mission-fluent operators who understand why the problem matters, not people who build in the abstract."

This sentiment was echoed by Gerhards, who will join B/CORE in a senior leadership role tasked with strengthening customer relationships and accelerating mission delivery. Her retention is a key element of the deal, ensuring the continuity of the institutional knowledge and client trust that Fuel Consulting represents.

"I've always led Fuel with a mission-first mentality," said Gerhards. "Our focus has been helping agencies put technology to work in ways that advance the mission and show real impact. B/CORE operates with the same urgency and the same commitment to mission intimacy. Together, we will deepen those relationships and move faster for our partners."

The emphasis on integrating "mission-fluent operators" underscores a growing recognition in the defense tech sector that the human element—the deep understanding of why a tool is needed—is just as crucial as the technology itself.

Closing the Gap Between Need and Capability

Ultimately, the acquisition is designed to solve a persistent problem for the government: the gap between the fast-paced evolution of technology and the slower, more deliberative process of federal procurement and deployment. B/CORE's stated goal is to operate at a speed the traditional contracting model was never designed to match.

By pairing Fuel's mission advisors, who understand the intricate requirements and operational realities of the IC, with B/CORE's agile technologists and engineers, the combined entity aims to create a more efficient feedback loop. Fuel's team can define the problem with precision, while B/CORE's team can rapidly prototype and field solutions. This synergy is intended to close the gap between an identified operational need and a working capability faster and more effectively than either organization could alone.

The combination of deep mission context and rapid technology adaptation is what government leaders say is urgently needed to address escalating global threats. With this acquisition, B/CORE is making a decisive bet that it has assembled the right components—technology, strategy, and, most importantly, people—to deliver on that promise.