diff --git a/docs/site/Booting-an-Application.md b/docs/site/Booting-an-Application.md
index f988f05d9b36..3deab972b02c 100644
--- a/docs/site/Booting-an-Application.md
+++ b/docs/site/Booting-an-Application.md
@@ -287,3 +287,44 @@ Used to discover the artifacts supported by the `Booter` based on convention.
 **load**
 
 Used to bind the discovered artifacts to the Application.
+
+### Boot an application using component
+
+For a complex project, we may break it down into multiple LoopBack applications,
+each of which has controllers, datasources, services, repositories, and other
+artifacts. How do we compose these sub applications into the main application?
+The component application booter can be created to support this use case.
+
+1. Create a component for the sub-application:
+
+```ts
+import {createComponentApplicationBooterBinding} from '@loopback/boot';
+import {Component} from '@loopback/core';
+
+export class SubAppComponent implements Component {
+  bindings = [
+    createComponentApplicationBooterBinding(
+      new SubApp(), /* an optional binding filter */,
+    ),
+  ];
+}
+```
+
+2. Mount the sub-application as a component to the main application:
+
+```ts
+const mainApp = new MainApp();
+
+// This can be done in the constructor of `MainApp` too. Make sure the component
+// is registered before calling `app.boot()`.
+mainApp.component(SubAppComponent);
+
+// Boot the main application. It will invoke the component application booter
+// to add artifacts from the `SubApp`.
+await mainApp.boot();
+```
+
+A binding filter function can be provided to select what bindings from the
+component application should be added to the main application. The booter skips
+bindings that exist in the component application before `boot`. It does not
+override locked bindings in the main application.
diff --git a/packages/boot/src/__tests__/acceptance/component-application.booter.acceptance.ts b/packages/boot/src/__tests__/acceptance/component-application.booter.acceptance.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a11d49b1adcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/boot/src/__tests__/acceptance/component-application.booter.acceptance.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+// Copyright IBM Corp. 2019,2020. All Rights Reserved.
+// Node module: @loopback/boot
+// This file is licensed under the MIT License.
+// License text available at https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
+
+import {Application, Component} from '@loopback/core';
+import {expect, givenHttpServerConfig, TestSandbox} from '@loopback/testlab';
+import {resolve} from 'path';
+import {
+  BootBindings,
+  BootMixin,
+  createComponentApplicationBooterBinding,
+} from '../..';
+import {BooterApp} from '../fixtures/application';
+
+describe('component application booter acceptance tests', () => {
+  let app: BooterApp;
+  const sandbox = new TestSandbox(resolve(__dirname, '../../.sandbox'), {
+    // We intentionally use this flag so that `dist/application.js` can keep
+    // its relative path to satisfy import statements
+    subdir: false,
+  });
+
+  beforeEach('reset sandbox', () => sandbox.reset());
+  beforeEach(getApp);
+
+  it('binds artifacts booted from the component application', async () => {
+    class BooterAppComponent implements Component {
+      bindings = [createComponentApplicationBooterBinding(app)];
+    }
+
+    const mainApp = new MainApp();
+    mainApp.component(BooterAppComponent);
+    const appBindingsBeforeBoot = mainApp.find(
+      // Exclude boot related bindings
+      binding =>
+        ![
+          BootBindings.BOOT_OPTIONS.key,
+          BootBindings.PROJECT_ROOT.key,
+          BootBindings.BOOTSTRAPPER_KEY.key,
+        ].includes(binding.key),
+    );
+    await mainApp.boot();
+    const controllers = mainApp.find('controllers.*').map(b => b.key);
+    expect(controllers).to.eql([
+      'controllers.ArtifactOne',
+      'controllers.ArtifactTwo',
+    ]);
+
+    // Assert main app bindings before boot are not overridden
+    const appBindingsAfterBoot = mainApp.find(binding =>
+      appBindingsBeforeBoot.includes(binding),
+    );
+    expect(appBindingsAfterBoot.map(b => b.key)).to.eql(
+      appBindingsBeforeBoot.map(b => b.key),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('binds artifacts booted from the component application by filter', async () => {
+    class BooterAppComponent implements Component {
+      bindings = [
+        createComponentApplicationBooterBinding(app, binding => {
+          return binding.key === 'controllers.ArtifactOne';
+        }),
+      ];
+    }
+
+    const mainApp = new MainApp();
+    mainApp.component(BooterAppComponent);
+    await mainApp.boot();
+    const controllers = mainApp.find('controllers.*').map(b => b.key);
+    expect(controllers).to.eql(['controllers.ArtifactOne']);
+  });
+
+  it('does not override locked bindings', async () => {
+    class BooterAppComponent implements Component {
+      bindings = [createComponentApplicationBooterBinding(app)];
+    }
+
+    const mainApp = new MainApp();
+    const lockedBinding = mainApp
+      .bind('controllers.ArtifactTwo')
+      .to('-locked-')
+      .lock();
+    mainApp.component(BooterAppComponent);
+    await mainApp.boot();
+    const current = mainApp.getBinding('controllers.ArtifactTwo', {
+      optional: true,
+    });
+    expect(current).to.be.exactly(lockedBinding);
+  });
+
+  class MainApp extends BootMixin(Application) {
+    constructor() {
+      super();
+      this.projectRoot = __dirname;
+    }
+  }
+
+  async function getApp() {
+    await sandbox.copyFile(resolve(__dirname, '../fixtures/package.json'));
+    await sandbox.copyFile(resolve(__dirname, '../fixtures/application.js'));
+    await sandbox.copyFile(
+      resolve(__dirname, '../fixtures/multiple.artifact.js'),
+      'controllers/multiple.controller.js',
+    );
+
+    const MyApp = require(resolve(sandbox.path, 'application.js')).BooterApp;
+    app = new MyApp({
+      rest: givenHttpServerConfig(),
+    });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/packages/boot/src/booters/component-application.booter.ts b/packages/boot/src/booters/component-application.booter.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..dedc94234d51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/boot/src/booters/component-application.booter.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+// Copyright IBM Corp. 2020. All Rights Reserved.
+// Node module: @loopback/boot
+// This file is licensed under the MIT License.
+// License text available at https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
+
+import {
+  Application,
+  Binding,
+  BindingFilter,
+  Constructor,
+  CoreBindings,
+  createBindingFromClass,
+  inject,
+} from '@loopback/core';
+import debugFactory from 'debug';
+import {BootBindings} from '../keys';
+import {Bootable, Booter, booter} from '../types';
+
+const debug = debugFactory('loopback:boot:booter:component-application');
+
+/**
+ * Create a booter that boots the component application. Bindings that exist
+ * in the component application before `boot` are skipped. Locked bindings in
+ * the main application will not be overridden.
+ *
+ * @param componentApp - The application exposing a component
+ * @param filter Binding filter to selected bindings to be added
+ */
+export function createBooterForComponentApplication(
+  componentApp: Application & Bootable,
+  filter: BindingFilter = () => true,
+): Constructor<Booter> {
+  /**
+   * A booter to boot artifacts for the component application
+   */
+  @booter('componentApplications')
+  class ComponentApplicationBooter implements Booter {
+    constructor(
+      @inject(CoreBindings.APPLICATION_INSTANCE) private mainApp: Application,
+    ) {}
+
+    async load() {
+      const bootBindingKeys = [
+        BootBindings.BOOT_OPTIONS.key,
+        BootBindings.PROJECT_ROOT.key,
+        BootBindings.BOOTSTRAPPER_KEY.key,
+      ];
+      /**
+       * List all bindings before boot
+       */
+      let bindings = componentApp.find(() => true);
+      const bindingsBeforeBoot = new Set(bindings);
+      // Boot the component application
+      await componentApp.boot();
+      /**
+       * Add bindings from the component application to the main application
+       */
+      bindings = componentApp.find(filter);
+      for (const binding of bindings) {
+        // Exclude boot related bindings
+        if (bootBindingKeys.includes(binding.key)) continue;
+
+        // Exclude bindings from the app before boot
+        if (bindingsBeforeBoot.has(binding)) {
+          debug(
+            'Skipping binding %s that exists before booting %s',
+            binding.key,
+            componentApp.name,
+          );
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        // Do not override locked bindings
+        const locked = this.mainApp.find(binding.key).some(b => b.isLocked);
+        if (locked) {
+          debug(
+            'Skipping binding %s from %s - locked in %s',
+            binding.key,
+            componentApp.name,
+            this.mainApp.name,
+          );
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        debug(
+          'Adding binding from %s to %s',
+          componentApp.name,
+          this.mainApp.name,
+          binding,
+        );
+        this.mainApp.add(binding as Binding);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return ComponentApplicationBooter;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Create a binding to register a booter that boots the component application.
+ * Bindings that exist in the component application before `boot` are skipped.
+ * Locked bindings in the main application will not be overridden.
+ *
+ * @param componentApp - The application exposing a component
+ * @param filter Binding filter to selected bindings to be added
+ */
+export function createComponentApplicationBooterBinding(
+  componentApp: Application & Bootable,
+  filter?: BindingFilter,
+) {
+  return createBindingFromClass(
+    createBooterForComponentApplication(componentApp, filter),
+  );
+}
diff --git a/packages/boot/src/booters/index.ts b/packages/boot/src/booters/index.ts
index 36ee79804e06..4fe98be2e9de 100644
--- a/packages/boot/src/booters/index.ts
+++ b/packages/boot/src/booters/index.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 export * from './application-metadata.booter';
 export * from './base-artifact.booter';
 export * from './booter-utils';
+export * from './component-application.booter';
 export * from './controller.booter';
 export * from './datasource.booter';
 export * from './interceptor.booter';