Founded in 1997 by Bruce Grant and Jan Stenbeck, Applied Value Group was created with a simple but radical premise: a consulting firm should be accountable for the outcomes it recommends. With owner-operator DNA at our core, we focus relentlessly on cost and capital efficiency, delivering tangible bottom-line results for Fortune 1000 companies and private equity firms alike. Today, with offices across the US, Europe, and Asia, we bring the analytical depth of a global advisor and the entrepreneurial agility of a boutique — backed by a strategic growth investment from Trivest Partners.

We are a team of hands-on operators, strategists, and investors united by a Lean Growth philosophy. Our three-part model — Management Consulting, Private and Public Investments, and Social Responsibility — is not a marketing construct; it reflects how we genuinely work. Our consultants bring an owner-operator mindset to every engagement, and our investment practice gives us real-world skin in the game across more than 30 portfolio companies globally. With roughly 100–200 professionals operating across nine offices on three continents, we are large enough to tackle complex global challenges and focused enough to treat every client as a priority.

We help organizations improve financial performance through rigorous, fact-based consulting across strategy, finance, organization design, sales and marketing, supply chain, sourcing, product innovation, and M&A. Every engagement is anchored in measurable impact — whether that means expanding gross margins, reducing fixed costs, optimizing working capital, or executing a successful acquisition. We work across industries from heavy manufacturing and telecommunications to consumer goods, healthcare, and private equity, serving both Fortune 500 multinationals and mid-market companies.

Our mission is to create sustainable financial impact for our consulting clients, the companies we invest in, and the NGOs we support. We believe that business excellence and social responsibility are not competing priorities — they are complementary. The same Lean Growth principles that drive profitability for our clients also power our social impact work, helping communities achieve durable economic empowerment through entrepreneurship, job creation, and inclusion.

We focus on facts to make impactful decisions. We emphasize actions, not just advice — our engagements create shareholder value through rigorous analysis, strategic counsel, and a relentless drive to make things happen. We operate with an owner-operator mindset: accountable, results-oriented, and deeply invested in the outcomes of every client and portfolio company we touch. We put proven, impactful solutions first and seek partners — not recipients — in everything we do.

What sets Applied Value Group apart is our combination of global advisory depth and boutique-level attention. Unlike traditional strategy firms that stop at recommendations, we integrate consulting with investment partnerships — which means we share directly in the outcomes we help create. Our Lean Growth methodology is grounded in decades of hands-on operational experience across more than 30 countries. Clients ranging from global conglomerates to PE-backed mid-market firms choose us because we deliver measurable, bottom-line impact — not slide decks.

Our social impact support is concentrated across four thematic portfolios: entrepreneurship and job creation; inclusive and empowered societies; climate; and technology. We invest in thematic areas close to our industries of expertise, harnessing the power of our business knowledge to drive durable societal change. Annual Social Impact Reports published since 2021 document our progress against these commitments.

Our Community Affairs Program supports organizations working to foster social, economic, and political integration within communities by targeting under-privileged groups. We foster entrepreneurship and job creation in critical populations through professional and financial support, partnering with organizations such as Hand in Hand International and The Bowery Mission. Our annual Let's Give Back Gala brings together business leaders and philanthropists to mobilize resources for communities across Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

Applied Value Group's diversity and social programs contribute to disenfranchised communities by championing gender equality, ending poverty, and reducing inequalities. We help build inclusive, empowered societies by working with vulnerable groups and partnering with organizations such as KRIS educational support to increase opportunities for women and children globally. Research confirms that societies with strong financial, social, and emotional inclusion demonstrate higher socio-economic outcomes — a belief that shapes how we operate and invest.