Our investment strategy.
We offer access to high-growth companies at early stages. Investing early not only means great deals on equity. It means we can roll up our sleeves and get involved right from the start, supporting our businesses to build strong foundations for growth.
This page was last updated on the 27th June 2023.
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We focus on the hottest sectors.
Applied AI, marketplaces and Web3 are showing rapid and sustainable growth in the UK. Our team shares a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities within them.
Applied AI.
The application of AI to common use cases can transform industries, enabling new business models and value creation.
Marketplace.
Our companies are growing platforms that significantly impact a market, leveraging technology and a scalable business model.
Web3.
The next iteration of the internet is rapidly evolving into a strong prospect for early-stage investment.
Our model.
It takes more than money to transform a big idea into a world-changing business. Startups with high-growth potential need strong foundations to succeed. So we invest early and add value right from the start.
Our funding options and full-stack startup studio have been crafted to help founders beat the odds through the earliest stages and beyond.
We invest early.
We focus on pre-seed and seed stage investments. Investing early means smaller investments with significant ownership stakes, and a naturally diversified portfolio. We grow with our businesses, participating in follow-on rounds up to Series A.
Great deals on
early-stage equity.
We’re investing for higher stakes at much lower valuations than traditional industry growth capital.
Great returns with a diversified portfolio.
Our investments are naturally diversified - generating returns from a higher volume of mid-level exits.
Potential for fund out-performance.
We hunt for outliers, not just unicorns. If a unicorn does appear in the herd our fund outperforms predictions.
Attracting a large and diverse pipeline of deals.
We’re at the heart of an incredible technology ecosystem in London and scour it for promising teams tackling the most exciting opportunities. We have developed a fundamentals-driven approach to screening companies and founders.
> 4000 Leads.
400 First Meetings.
4-8 new investments.
Supporting founders as they scale.
Forward’s Studio is a group of ex-founders and operators who know what it takes to scale up. Founders work with us to surround their business with great people.
Don't take our word for it.
Supercharging growth with a strong team and culture.
Ably grew quickly from a team that could sit comfortably around one table, to 40 people dispersed across Europe. Forward’s studio experts worked with Ably’s founders to define their purpose and mission. We worked together to develop a high-performing culture that would align and unite their fast-growing team.
Building product success through customer understanding.
Forward worked with Lexoo to gather, analyse and synthesise customer insight. The studio team rapidly built a concierge-based product, which meant the team could launch quickly, onboard new lawyers and bring them customers - all in just 6 weeks.
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Building a brand set for scale.
Working together with the Forward team gave us the confidence to be brave and get on with merging Bookkit and Clustermarket. Now we feel we can be bolder and think bigger. We have aligned the team around a clear shared vision and set of goals - and we know we’re ready for what’s coming next.
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