The problem
In a post-LLM market, “it was hard to build” stopped being a moat.
AI coding agents have collapsed the cost of reproducing application logic. Traditional technical DD still reads the codebase and ticks a rubric — it confirms the code exists, not whether the advantage survives the next 18 months of AI tooling. For Series A–C deals, the risk you're underwriting has moved from “can they ship?” to “what here is genuinely hard to replicate?”
Defensibility audit
How long each layer survives modern AI tooling
What we do
We reconstruct the load-bearing parts to see what's real.
Forge is outside-in diligence. Rather than only auditing the repo, we use AI-assisted reconstruction to rebuild the parts of a target's product that matter to the thesis — and watch which resist. What reproduces quickly was never the moat; what resists — proprietary data, hard-won integrations, distribution — is where defensibility lives. We've done this on production systems: on a London gaming/adtech platform we audited and rebuilt a terabyte-scale Spark ETL pipeline, surfacing defects the client's own monitoring missed.
See the deliverablesReconstruction log
illustrativeMost of the surface reproduces quickly under AI tooling. What resists — that's the moat. We price the gap.
The deliverables
Everything your IC needs to underwrite technical risk.
Reconstruction stress-test
How fast each core feature falls to AI agents — scored per feature, so you can see where the moat actually is.
Spark pipeline rebuildCodebase & architecture audit
Execution plans, data flows, scaling limits, and hidden cloud-cost risks surfaced — not a rubric, the real thing.
Gaming-tech ETL auditAI-readiness assessment
Where AI compresses cost or unlocks capability the target hasn’t touched yet — quantified.
Agency transformationCosted value-creation roadmap
An automation and margin plan, sequenced by payback — your first 12 months of post-close upside.
CTO-as-a-ServicePost-close transformation
Optional: we execute the roadmap as embedded operators, or hand it to your team and advise.
CTO-as-a-Service · EnprivacyWhy Bayseian
We assess builders because we build and operate production systems.
Forge isn't staffed by reviewers reading code from the outside. The same team has architected and shipped real systems under real constraints — an operator's lens that catches what a rubric misses — led by founders out of Cambridge and King's College London. Because we co-build and co-own ventures ourselves, we underwrite technical theses the way owners do, not box-tickers.
- Rebuilt a terabyte-scale gaming ETL pipeline — found defects existing monitoring missed
- Built a portfolio-intelligence dashboard tracking 3,000+ care homes for a healthcare investor
- CTO-as-a-Service depth: architecture, data, compliance, and AI systems in production
We diligence
Independent, NDA-ready technical due diligence for your live deals — scoped to the timeline.
We also build & co-own
We co-build and co-own ventures (Tekniti, ClinicalPad) — so we underwrite technical theses the way owners do, not box-tickers.
Fee diligence engagements are kept independent of any venture we hold a stake in.
How it runs
Diligence on your deal clock.
Week 0
Scope
NDA, data-room access, and the three questions your IC needs answered.
Week 1–2
Reconstruct & audit
We reconstruct the load-bearing features and audit the architecture, data flows, and scaling limits.
Week 3–4
IC-ready memo
A written verdict plus an interactive replica you can probe yourself.
Post-close
Execute (optional)
We run the value-creation roadmap, or hand it to your operating team.
Have a software target on the table?
Independent technical diligence, NDA-ready, scoped to your deal timeline.