Coa Solutions Enters SBA Mentor-Protégé Partnership with Coforma

ARLINGTON, VA — Coa Solutions, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and SBA 8(a) participant specializing in AI-accelerated federal engineering, today announced that it has entered into a formal U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Mentor-Protégé Program relationship with Coforma, an award-winning human-centered design and technology studio. Under the agreement, approved under 13 CFR § 125.9, Coforma serves as mentor and Coa Solutions as protégé.

The relationship pairs Coforma's research, design, and accessibility expertise with Coa's AI-accelerated engineering and federal delivery experience — giving agencies a path to research, design, and ship modern digital services at speed, backed by two proven teams rather than one.

"Partnering with Coforma through the SBA Mentor-Protégé Program is a milestone for Coa," said Ari Perez, CEO of Coa Solutions. "Coforma has spent years setting the standard for human-centered design in government. Pairing that with Coa's AI-accelerated engineering gives federal agencies a small-business prime that can research, design, and ship trustworthy digital services — without trading away the security review, the accessibility audit, or the human judgment a person has to make. With Coforma's mentorship, we're positioned to scale that delivery while keeping quality non-negotiable."

Forming CoCoa JV

As part of the partnership, the two firms have established CoCoa JV LLC, a Virginia joint venture that serves as the operating vehicle for Coa and Coforma to pursue and deliver federal work together. CoCoa JV is service-disabled veteran-owned-eligible through both of its veteran-led members and is positioned to prime small-business set-aside and full-and-open opportunities — combining the partners' past performance, capacity, and capabilities under a single small-business prime.

Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, Coa Solutions delivers AI-accelerated software engineering and applied healthcare AI for federal missions. Its past performance includes authenticated digital services on VA.gov, an AI pilot for the VA National Cemetery Administration delivered in coordination with the VA Chief AI Officer's office, and digital modernization work at the Internal Revenue Service. To date, Coa's AI decision-support systems have processed more than 50 million pages of complex federal documents, with human operators kept at the center of every workflow.

"Coa understands government and delivers at speed," said Eduardo Ortiz, CEO of Coforma. "We are excited to mentor a team that shares our commitment to public service while bringing world-class, explainable AI engineering to federal workflows."

Together, the partners are positioned to answer growing federal demand for leaner, lower-cost, and higher-velocity technology delivery across civilian, defense, and health workflows — combining Coforma's research and design experience with Coa's AI-augmented delivery frameworks to help agencies modernize legacy infrastructure and improve outcomes for the citizens and Veterans they serve.

Coforma's announcement of the partnership is available on the Coforma website.