Blackwater (company)
  Top: original logo of Blackwater Bottom: logo of Academi | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Private security services contractor |
| Founded | December 26, 1996 North Carolina, U.S. |
| Founders | Erik Prince Al Clark |
| Defunct | June 2014 |
| Fate | Merged with Triple Canopy and Constellis into Constellis Group |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Law enforcement training, logistics, close quarter training, and security services |
| Services | Security management, full-service risk management consulting |
Academi, formerly Blackwater, was an American private military contractor founded on December 26, 1996, by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009, and was again renamed to Academi in 2011, after it was acquired by a group of private investors. In 2014, Academi and Triple Canopy were consolidated into Constellis Group, under the Constellis Holdings umbrella alongside several other private security firms. Academi is still operational as a subsidiary of Constellis Group.
Blackwater began providing services to the Central Intelligence Agency in 2002, receiving a $5.4 million contract to provide security for the agency's station in Kabul, Afghanistan. Blackwater’s work in Iraq began in mid-2003.
In 2007, Blackwater received widespread notoriety for the Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad, when a group of its employees killed 17 Iraqi civilians and injured 20. Four employees were convicted in the United States and were later pardoned on December 22, 2020, by President Donald Trump.