Digital Freight Forwarder Forto Receives $240 Million Investment

Digital freight forwarder Forto has received a financial boost of $240 million, with a majority stake from the SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at a valuation of $1.2 billion. The new funding supports Forto in further developing a highly transparent, sustainable, and digital supply chain. Forto sees the investment as a confirmation of market opportunities.

(Berlin) Forto, the leading provider of digital freight forwarding and supply chain solutions, has secured $240 million in a new funding round. The round is led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2^[1]. Other investors include Citi Ventures and G Squared. Existing investors such as Northzone, Inven Capital, Cherry Ventures, and Unbound are also participating. With this round, Forto’s valuation now stands at $1.2 billion.

Forto views this latest investment as a confirmation of the market opportunities for its technology in creating an efficient, transparent, modern, and global supply chain. Forto is leading a new generation of logistics companies. The company utilizes its digital platform to simplify the management of logistics processes and increase transparency in the supply chain. This enables customers to gain better insights for making more efficient decisions. Some of the largest companies in Europe, including Home24 and Edeka, already rely on Forto for the transportation of their goods.

Further Expanding International Business

“Logistics is the backbone of global trade. Data analytics and process automation will fundamentally change the global delivery of goods and services,” says Karol Niewiadomski, Senior Investor at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “Forto’s centralized platform leverages these technologies to enhance operational efficiency, reduce transaction costs, and increase transparency for customers. We are excited to work with Michael and his team to further expand the international business.” As part of the investment, Nahoko Hoshino will join Forto’s board as a representative of SoftBank Investment Advisers.

“With this investment, we are able to drive our growth and further develop our roadmap,” adds Michael Wax, CEO and co-founder of Forto. “In our quest to further digitize global trade, we plan to significantly expand our international presence, technology platform, and service offerings to solidify our market leadership in Europe and beyond.”

Transparency and Sustainability Across the Supply Chain

Luis Valdich, Managing Director of Investing at Citi Ventures, highlights Forto’s mission to enable transparency in the supply chain across all solution offerings: “There is a significant opportunity to improve global supply chains by seamlessly integrating trade finance with digital solutions. Forto’s platform not only simplifies the flow of goods but also the flow of data and money by eliminating barriers.”

The new investment also supports Forto’s goal of making global trade more sustainable. More than half of Forto’s customers are already utilizing the company’s CO2 compensation offering. Forto has implemented the “1+1 approach” – a program where the company doubles the CO2 compensation of each customer to enable climate-positive transport in the long term.

Strategically Positioned to Drive Market Change

Since its founding in 2016, Forto has consistently achieved rapid growth and expanded its service offerings. The company recently expanded its European and Asian offices with new locations. Michael Wax (CEO and co-founder), Erik Muttersbach (CTO and co-founder), and Dr. Michael Ardelt (COO) have recently enhanced the leadership team with experienced professionals from technology, sales, and finance. Forto was founded as FreightHub, with early-stage investors including Inven Capital, Iris Capital, Northzone, Cherry Ventures, Unbound, and GFC. With the latest investment, the company has raised a total of $360 million to date.

The transaction is still subject to regulatory closing conditions and is expected to close in the coming weeks.
^[1]At the time of this press release, SoftBank Group Corp. has made capital contributions to enable investments from the SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (“SVF 2”) in certain portfolio companies. The information contained herein is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to purchase limited partnership interests in a fund, including SVF 2. SVF 2 has not yet closed externally, and all potential third-party investors will receive further information regarding any investments from SVF 2 prior to closing.

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