Hobu, Inc.

Hobu, Inc., a for-profit Subchapter S Corporation based in Iowa City, Iowa, develops and maintains open-source geospatial software libraries and provides geospatial consulting services to federal agencies as a prime contractor on 89% of recent awards, competing under full-and-open procurement rather than set-aside categories. The vendor specializes in the development, optimization, and technical support of critical geospatial tools including GDAL, PDAL, PROJ, and QGIS, which are used across civilian and defense agencies for LiDAR data management, bathymetry workflow optimization, planetary projection enhancements, and coastal engineering applications.

Hobu's customer concentration is dominated by the Department of the Army Corps of Engineers (5 awards, $6.4 million combined potential value) and the U.S. Geological Survey (9 awards, $510 thousand combined potential value), together accounting for 78% of recent awards by count and 100% of combined potential value when ranked by dollars. The USGS awards span custom computer programming and software library updates—including a $47.5 thousand Total Small Business purchase order for QGIS planetary projection improvements and a $7.5 thousand Total Small Business no-cost extension for GDAL ISIS 3 updates, both awarded in 2025. The Army Corps of Engineers contracts include a $4.7 million suite of awards for LiDAR data management and remote sensing geographic information system research through the Engineer Research and Development Center, and a $1.7 million contract for related coastal and hydraulic engineering work. Hobu also holds two awards from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) totaling $80 thousand for bathymetry workflow optimization through open-source library development; the most recent, a $40 thousand purchase order awarded September 11, 2026, runs through September 10, 2027. The U.S. Forest Service awarded a $71 thousand contract for LiDAR data management consultation ending in June 2024. Award activity has grown modestly—one award per year in 2022 and 2023, two in 2024, and four in 2025—with combined obligated dollars ($13.7 million) exceeding combined potential value, signaling invoiced work in excess of contract ceilings. Three awards totaling $421 thousand face recompete within the next twenty-four months.

Hobu's subcontract footprint is minimal: a sub engagement to Booz Allen Hamilton on an Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research and Development Center remote sensing and LiDAR data management task (awarded November 9, 2025), and a sub to an unnamed prime on a proof-of-concept geospatial data synchronization application development effort leveraging PDAL, Entwine, GDAL, and PROJ libraries (awarded February 27, 2024). The vendor operates on a single identified parent vehicle, the Information Analysis Center Multiple-Award Contract, which has generated one task order. Hobu's capability portfolio centers on custom computer programming services (11 awards) and research and development in the physical sciences and engineering (4 awards), with secondary work in application development software and IT management tools. The vendor's reputation across federal geospatial programs reflects sustained technical depth in open-source library maintenance and planetary mapping workflows rather than broad IT service scope.