We’re in your corner.

Nic is the founder and CEO of Forward Partners. He has worked in venture capital in London and Silicon Valley for over 20 years. Prior to founding Forward in 2013, he was a founding Partner at leading venture capital firm Draper Esprit. Before entering the venture capital industry he worked as a strategy consultant for Gemini Consulting and at London based startup Operis Group plc.

Outside of Forward he’s a proud husband and father of two teenage kids and a long-time season ticket holder at Chelsea Football Club. He’s developed a keen interest in mindfulness and philosophy that’s proved to be a great asset at home, at work and as a supporter of the aforementioned club.

Matthew used to work on trading floors at Lloyds and BarCap before seeing the light. Following an MBA at SDA Bocconi and before joining us he became an entrepreneur and investor in his own right.

Matt splits his time between investments and working across the portfolio.

Jasel runs the team delivering value-added services to our partner companies, from early-stage idea through to launch and anywhere in between. This includes product strategy, customer experience, brand development, technology services, growth marketing, talent, PR and more (breathe). He has a background in building and running teams developing innovative products and experiences for some of the world’s most celebrated brands. This included 13 years at AKQA on clients including Audi, Coca Cola, Nike and Nissan.

When not working, J’s a proud father of two, loves to travel and watching his favourite football team.

Tom is an Investment Associate with Forward Partners. He joined us after completing his MBA at Cambridge University. Prior to his MBA he was Country Manager for Spain at Leverton, an Applied AI startup in the legaltech space and has also previously worked at Cybersecurity Saas firm Mimecast. He started his career in Corporate Finance at Deloitte where he qualified as a chartered accountant.

Luke joined Forward Partners from REV Venture Partners, a corporate VC, where he was responsible for deal origination, investment due diligence and portfolio reporting. He was previously a consultant with the strategy consultancy Oliver Wyman, where he worked across the retail, aviation, healthcare and FMCG sectors.

Luke originally planned a career in science and he holds a PhD in biochemistry. His focus at Forward Partners is on sourcing and executing new investments.

Louise started out as a medical doctor and has experience in a number of medical and surgical specialities. She has undertaken research in a world-class laboratory, is published in an international medical journal and has presented work at multiple national and international conferences.

Following this, she joined Entrepreneur First where she developed a healthcare communication platform.

Nat is Head of People & Talent at Forward. Nat has previously worked in start ups, scale ups and larger corporates in a People/Talent and Employment capacity. Nat has previous VC experience working for Kindred Capital VC and been a founder herself in HR Tech. Nat is passionate about nailing the basics for companies when it comes to their People and is on a continual train to move away from traditional HR and move into impactful people projects with a heavy slant on psychology within the workplace and beyond, allowing people to be their best self always.

Growth wrangler. Marketer. Customer champion.

Jared has spent his career building great customer experiences. He's started up. Sold. Built new things, including a newspaper. A robot dog. An omni-directional wheelchair. The most visible screen in London. And for a time, the world's biggest picture. Before Forward he led marketing and growth for Marketplace business Plentific, helping them to pivot, scale their business across Europe and raise a $30m round.

Josh is a Product Designer in the Studio team helping Forward's portfolio companies design products, craft brands and test their ideas. Formally educated in software development he took the decision to follow his passion rather than his education and has since helped Google, YouTube and Moneybox build their products.  He finds happiness in helping founders realise their potential and creating value with their products.

He loves everything design from physical products to interiors and architecture but spends too much time thinking about eSports, consumerism and crypto.

Gary has been building digital experiences for over 10 years now - working for a number of digital agencies; building products and services for clients ranging from Google, Nike, and the US Navy. He is passionate about digital and technical innovation, agile ways of working and being a practical programmer!

Adam has over 5 years experience working as a Product / Project Manager creating sites that recieve millions of hits a day for the likes of Google and Saatch & Saatchi. Most recently he worked at BabylonHealth developing a globalised product that used AI and Machine Learning to provide accessible, affordable healthcare. He loves solving problems and brings a diverse skill set to the table.

In former life, Adam was also a commercial pilot and completed degree in software engineering.

Liina is a content marketer with experience across fast-paced industries. At Forward Partners, she looks after writing, coordinating and publishing our blog and social media content. She also assists with organising our events. Prior joining Forward Partners, Liina worked at a venture capital fund looking after marketing, communications and events function and she started her career working for hospitality and sports venues. Liina has a strong interest in sustainability and avid supporter of human and animal rights.

Kayleigh is stepping into Nat's shoes at the Interim Head of People at Forward. Kayleigh previously worked in the strategy and design consultancy space, starting out at McKinsey and most recently Idean (formally Adaptive Lab), a design studio which was successfully acquired. Kayleigh is extremely passionate about ensuring companies invest in the right people strategies at the right time. Whilst she's a stickler for structure and order, she's equally happy to keep the right things loose around the edges to create space for organic growth and development. Mental health and inclusion are incredibly important to Kayleigh and creating a healthy and happy workplace will always be her number one. 

Emma is a Talent associate at Forward Partners. She supports the people team in their sourcing and screening candidates, in addition to taking charge of roles herself. Prior to joining Forward Partners she worked at an in house recruitment consultancy firm, where she started after graduating from the University of Leeds. While still very early in her career she loves having conversations with interesting people and filling the gaps in our portfolio.

Katie is a Talent Acquisition Associate at Forward Partners. After graduating in 2019 in Linguistics from the University of Reading, she kickstarted her career in the world of PA / office support recruitment. Wanting to dive into the start up world, Katie sources talent and manages the hiring process alongside the People Team at Forward.

Allen is a seasoned Chartered Accountant qualifying with Grant Thornton. His early career was spent in the booming telecommunications sector of the 90's. He then undertook numerous Interim Finance Director roles focused on Private Equity backed companies where he was involved with start-ups, company turnarounds and M&A work. Following the successful trade sale of his last company Allen has joined Forward Partners to assist the company on its next exciting phase.  

Dahlia joined Forward Partners in 2018 as Financial Controller. Following qualification as a chartered accountant, Dahlia has over 10 years experience in providing professional services across a broad range of finance areas including compliance, tax, business process, audit, financial reporting and M&A. Prior to joining Forward Partners, Dahlia has worked across startups, SMEs and larger corporates; holding senior finance positions within the Real Estate, Tech, Aeronautical & Transport and Education sectors.

Mo works as a Team Coordinator and PA to Nic Brisbourne. Mo is passionate about creating a fun and inclusive working culture, creating events and supporting the team at Forward. She joins us from the brands Ecover and Method and has previously worked in the arts and events. At Ecover & Method, she supported the leadership team, managed the office and created events.

Ade champions the explore process, ruthlessly prioritising on Forward’s strategy & innovation efforts to help us meet our goals. This includes finding synergies and executing growth related objectives across Forward Partners.

Ade joins Forward Partners from the start-up world along with previous experience building his own company. He has worked in private equity and has come out of the University Of Cambridge Judge Business School

Hasam is the Managing Director of Forward Advances. After spending 4 years in the British Army, he progressed through the ranks at Bank of America and Paypal, and founded 2 startups before joining us at Forward Partners. Hasam is passionate about re-imagining business lending for entrepreneurs and society-at-large, and is using his expertise to help lead and scale our new revenue-based finance offering.

Brendon is Head of Operations at Forward Advances. He joins us from Nauta Capital, a pan-European VC focussed on Series A investments in B2B software. Prior to his career in venture, he completed his MBA at the University of Oxford and started his career working across banking at Credit Suisse and the National Australia Bank.

Maddie is the Growth Manager at Forward Advances. Maddie’s inherent passion for nutrition and sustainability was cemented during her time at the University of Edinburgh, where she obtained her BSc in Biomedical Sciences. After a year abroad in the US, she decided to further her career with a number of early stage and high growth plant-based food start-ups. With a desire to form her own entrepreneurial path, Maddie is currently enrolled on the NEF program, run by the Centre for Entrepreneurs.

Joe joined Forward Partners from Barclays, where he completed the graduate scheme before moving into Credit Portfolio Management. He was responsible for the pricing and structuring of debt facilities across the Retail, Tech & Media, and Real Estate sectors. Joe is also passionate about the mental health of young people, and a trustee of The Wolfpack Project charity.