CourtAvenue Captures Contract with USAF

SAN DIEGO – CourtAvenue is aiming high.

The digital transformation agency that’s seen exponential growth since it started in 2020 has been awarded a groundbreaking nine-year contract with the United States Air Force.

The contract is aimed at supporting the USAF’s Rapid Sustainment Office (RSO) by accelerating Artificial Intelligence and technology transfer across the RSO’s operations.

The RSO rapidly identifies, applies and scales essential technology for operational and sustainment purposes for the Air Force, increasing the mission readiness of the USAF.

CourtAvenue COO Jana Roszkowski said being added to USAF’s vetted multi-agency contract IDIQ (indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity) roster allows CourtAvenue to have a contract vehicle that allows program offices to work with the organization “to elevate their brand message and purpose throughout the USAF.”

“We are thrilled at the opportunity and look forward to expanding our team to support the USAF,” she said.

CourtAvenue, the fastest-growing medium-sized company in the county this year as reported in the San Diego Business Journal, is among 67 organizations included in the $1 billion IDIQ contract, but is the only marketing services agency named, said company co-founder Dan Khabie.

CourtAvenue has a three-year history working with the USAF, enhancing mission readiness and leveraging its expertise in strategic marketing and communications, Khabie said, and last November was named the Direct Agency of Record for the USAF’s RSO.

Previous work with the USAF RSO team has allowed CourtAvenue to contribute its expertise to design powerful experiences that connect airmen to new ideas and technology, ultimately amplifying their impact.

Khabie said that about six months ago, CourtAvenue was approved to sell to the U.S. government through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). GSA certification allows businesses to be found by federal buyers, simplifies the federal acquisition process, “and allows us to work with any government agency or municipality,” Khabie said.

Now with a contract vehicle that allows program offices to work with the organization to elevate the brand message and purpose throughout the USAF, IDIQ will expand what CourtAvenue can do.

Moving forward, CourtAvenue’s work with the military branch will cover communications aimed at speeding AI and other technology transfer across its global operations, Khabie said, in addition to help with marketing, stories and branding.

“I’m thinking about things like, ‘How do we build a really strong practice to support innovation within the government, specifically the Air Force?’” Khabie said. “The other side of it is how do we communicate how the product work we are doing is impacting the rest of the Air Force? How do we tell that story so other government organizations are aware of what they’re doing?”

Elevating Air Force Brand Story

CourtAvenue partner Michael Stich said the company has positioned itself as the organization that will develop and execute RSO communications strategies, develop strategic identities and craft engagement tactics across all program offices.

Roszkowski and Stich both said that could culminate in several areas and ways, to include developing creative and visual products that support the USAF RSO initiatives/programs.

“Whether that is a digital experience to help airmen engage with building an overall community by creating a foundation of collaboration and knowledge sharing or creation of a site or video to elevate their brand story,” Stich said.

Roszkowski said CourtAvenue could design development of brand materials, including additional RSO iconography, logos or storyboards — things that would show up on uniform patches, on video vignettes or through presentation materials.

Additionally, CourtAvenue could design and provide creative content creation and overall support for RSO engagement efforts as the exhibitor and keynote presenters via interactive demo experiences.

Covering More Space

It’s been a busy year for CourtAvenue, which has grown to 130 employees, including about three dozen in San Diego County.

The business was also recently one of nearly 90 companies from the San Diego region that made it onto the Inc. 5000 list in its ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., growing by 4,802%.

In addition to the Air Force, companies using CourtAvenue to accelerate their digital presence include Taylor Guitars, Kia, General Mills and Epson.

Those companies have hired CourtAvenue to drive clients closer to consumers by determining how to create human-centered interactions with their businesses, their services and their products.

This past May, CourtAvenue launched Catapult, a cutting-edge AI-powered content generation tool.

Earlier this year, CourtAvenue also rolled out another AI tool called Uplift, a five-step content development process that infuses the voice of the customer while validating creative imagery using AI.

Growing from $500K to $34M

CourtAvenue is the fastest-growing private company in San Diego, ranked by percent of verified revenue growth, as reported by the SDBJ, with a 3,883% growth in revenue from 2020-22.

The company brought in half a million dollars in its first year (2020), grew to $11.3 million in 2021, in 2022 brought in $21.1 million and had its best year in 2023 with $27.3 million. It is on track to bring in $34 million this year, Khabie said.

Founded by Khabie and Kenny Tomlin with Stich coming on as a partner in 2021, CourtAvenue’s model “moves a little bit more quickly than the largest marketing and advertising companies,” Stich said.

“This a unique moment in time in which there’s a lot of technological change,” Stich said. “We’re basically at the start of another Internet with the rise of AI. We see a lot of clients that are trying to figure that out — at the same time they’ve got day jobs to do and a lot of products and services to sell, and platforms and other kinds of things they go build.

“We decided it made sense for us to go ahead and create a new company that was focused on how technology could help accelerate their own companies and the experiences they provide their customers as well.”

CourtAvenue
FOUNDED: 2020
FOUNDERS: Daniel Khabie, Kenny Tomlin
PARTNERS: Daniel Khabie, Kenny Tomlin, Michael Stich
HEADQUARTERS: San Diego
BUSINESS: Digital Transformation Agency
REVENUE: $34 million (expected in 2024)
EMPLOYEES: 35 in San Diego and Orange counties; 130 nationally
WEBSITE: courtavenue.com
CONTACT: 844-COURTAVE
SOCIAL IMPACT: Khabie works with the nonprofit Lucky Duck Foundation
NOTABLE: Named No. 58 to the Fortune 1000 in 2024