GovExec’s Sophisticated Evolution Comes in Time for Trump Part 2

By: Christiana Sciaudone

GovExec, a platform that offers government market intelligence and content, bought and absorbed 16 acquisitions in less than four years. If that’s not enough, the company is set to launch a new lead intelligence subscription product in 2025 using artificial intelligence to help companies sell to local, state and federal agencies.

It’s part of the evolution of the decades-old publication that started as a print magazine and now bills itself as providing “essential sales and marketing intelligence that connects the government and the contractors who support their strategic initiatives.”

Tim Hartman, chief executive officer of Government Executive Media Group, told AMO:

We wanted to build the largest and smartest database of government buyers and what they intend to buy. And so we went out, we acquired a number of data companies that brought unique data sets, RFP data past history, competitive data industry forecasts, and all of those are essential if you’re trying to pursue government business. And so we took what was essentially a lead generation business four years ago, and we’ve made it 1,000 times more sophisticated, and we have all of the data and intelligence a company needs when they go to market in the government space.

GovExec, which has 300 employees, is four times bigger today than it was four years ago in terms of revenue, staff and profit, Hartman said. The customer base has grown to 4,000 from 300 in that time.

While he declined to share any figures in his most recent interview, in 2022 Hartman said on an AMO podcast that sales totaled about $18 million in 2020, and expectations for 2022 were that revenue would be “north of $70 million and half of that is organic.” Since that podcast interview, the company has completed two known acquisitions—CJIS Group in June 2022 and ATARC in June 2023.

Last week, Hartman said revenue has grown organically 5% to 10% since 2022 and next year he expects 10% organic growth outside of any possible acquisitions.

The forecast comes as President-elect Donald Trump announced a Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to dismantle government bureaucracy and cut wasteful expenditures, among other things.

“When the government sets a big goal, we benefit because we provide data and intelligence to leaders to help them plan. And we connect government to technology solutions that transform their operations,” Hartman said in response to the Trump administration’s plans.

Forging Ahead

Research, intelligence and data are the fastest growing parts of the business, with research up 50% as customers seek answers about where the government intends to buy and what the landscape is. The lead generation business hasn’t grown as significantly, some of which is attributable to fewer tech marketing dollars. That’s expected to reverse course in 2025.

GovTribe, the name of GovExec’s market intelligence platform, includes federal, state and local data. Hartman said the company is prioritizing accelerating the growth of the platform next year, expanding the number of users and launching features that enable sales and marketing professionals to get better intelligence.

We’re launching new products in our research business that allow business development and sales professionals to understand the competitive landscape around a specific deal. So if there’s an opportunity, let’s say, at Department of Energy, that you’re pursuing, we can provide you with a unique competitive landscape around what your competitors are positioned to do in that around that opportunity, who they’re likely, who your likely competitors are going to be, what their strategy might be, and then who your potential partners could be in that space.

The newest project for GovExec is GovProspect, which will use AI and help users by providing historical information surrounding existing bids.

“We’re really excited about that, and that will be a subscription service that our customers opt into to acquire that data,” Hartman said.

In fact, a substantial percentage of revenue comes from annual subscriptions. There’s also re-occurring revenue, where customers buy the same things year after year, Hartman said:

“It’s really a healthy business. When you look at it, the recurring revenue and re-occurring revenue is a significant portion of our total business now. The goal is to grow the ARR over time and to use some of our unique data and unique analysis to provide more stickiness to those recurring and reoccurring relationships.”

Growth Catalyst Partners bought a controlling stake in Government Executive Media Group in 2020 and have been “tremendous partners.” At some point, they will divest and Hartman said GovExec will be looking for another partner that can take them from a mid-size company to a large scale company.