About Forward Partners
Forward Partners is a venture capital firm founded in 2013. It is primarily based out of London, United Kingdom. As of Sep 2023, Forward Partners has invested in 74 companies. It primarily invests in Seed round in United Kingdom based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Consumer to Enterprise Applications and Retail. Most recently it participated in the $***** Seed round of Ctrl Alt Overall, Forward Partners portfolio has seen 2 unicorns, 1 IPO and 16 acquisitions including key companies like Zopa, Cazoo and Drover. A lot of funds co-invest with Forward Partners, with names like MMC Ventures sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Forward Partners has team of 2 people including 1 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed, Series A & 2 more
Portfolio IPOs
Forward Partners' List of Top Investments
Forward Partners has a portfolio of 74 companies, including 2 unicorns. Their most notable investments are in Silico and Ably.Their portfolio spans across United Kingdom, United States, China and 1 more locations. They have invested in Consumer, Enterprise Applications, Retail and 22 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series A and 2 more. Here is the list of top investments by Forward Partners:1. Zopa
Digital bank offering accounts, loans, credit cards, savings, finance. It offers a full suite of financial products including current accounts, personal loans, credit cards, savings accounts, and car finance. Combining the reliability of traditional banking with the convenience of an intuitive app, it helps customers manage, grow, and access their money efficiently while providing competitive rates, cashback, and seamless digital experiences.
Key facts about Zopa
- Founded Year: 2005
- Location: London (United Kingdom)
- Annual Revenue: £100M - £500M as on Dec 31, 2024
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series H
- Total Funding till date: $968M
- Employee Count: 1,051 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Northzone, Benchmark and 35 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series H, Dec 06, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
2. Cazoo
Online dealer of second-hand cars. Their platform enables buyers to search for cars and view their specifications, photos, service history, price, and more. Buyers can purchase the car via the platform, as well as, have the cars delivered to their location. Their platform also provides car financing and servicing.
Key facts about Cazoo
- Founded Year: 2018
- Location: London (United Kingdom)
- Annual Revenue: £10M - £50M as on Dec 31, 2023
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series D
- Total Funding till date: $563M
- Employee Count: 883 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: equitywestsecurities.com, CNP and 37 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Post IPO, Feb 10, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
3. APEXX
Provider of a platform for payment orchestration and transaction processing. The platform offers intelligent routing, decline cascading, and cost routing. It integrates alternative payment methods, digital wallets, and bank transfers. The platform also provides consolidated reporting and data analytics for payment insights.
Key facts about APEXX
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: London (United Kingdom)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series B
- Total Funding till date: $57.4M
- Employee Count: 84 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: MMC Ventures, Molten Ventures and 41 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Feb 05, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Provider of a 3D sketching tool for VR applications. It comprises a pen and pad specifically designed for sketching in real space through the use of augmented reality glasses. The pen and the pad give the physical interaction of drawing in the digital world and by adjusting the plane the user can give volume to the sketch. The augmented reality glasses would also help visualize the product just in front of their eyes. The virtual model can be printed using a 3D printer.
Key facts about Gravity Sketch Limited
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: London (United Kingdom)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $38.4M
- Employee Count: 68 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Future Shape, Molten Ventures and 30 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Grant (prize money), Jun 12, 2023, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
5. Fy
Online retailer and discovery platform for multi-category products. The product catalog includes fashion, electronics, stationery, art, beauty, and more. It offers free shipping worldwide.
Key facts about Fy
- Founded Year: 2014
- Location: Berlin (Germany)
- Valuation: $*****
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $20.8M
- Employee Count: 387 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Independents United, Molten Ventures and 62 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Mar 07, 2023, $*****
Forward Partners' Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Forward Partners has invested in 74 companies over the last 13 years, with an average of 3 new investments annually in the last 10 years. Its most recent first time investment was in Ctrl Alt and most recent follow-on round was in PocDoc.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2024 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
2022 | 6 | 5 | 11 |
2021 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
2020 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
2019 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
2018 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
2017 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
Forward Partners' Investments by Stage
Forward Partners has made 33 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $2.19M, 11 investments in Series A stage with an average round size of $6.42M, 2 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $8M and 1 investment in Angel stage with an average round size of $53.3K.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 33 |
Series A | 11 |
Series B | 2 |
Angel | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Forward Partners' Investments by Sector
Forward Partners has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, Consumer, Retail, FinTech and HealthTech. Notably, it has invested in 66 Tech companies, 41 Consumer (B2C) companies, 36 Enterprise (B2B) companies and at least 31 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 21 |
Consumer | 17 |
Retail | 8 |
FinTech | 7 |
HealthTech | 7 |
Others | 48 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Forward Partners' Investments by Geography
Forward Partners has made most investments in United Kingdom (43), followed by United States where it has made 3 investments.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
United Kingdom | 43 |
United States | 3 |
Israel | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Forward Partners' recent investments
Forward Partners has not made any investment in 2026 so far.Here are the most recent investments by Forward Partners:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sep 27, 2023 | United Kingdom | Seed | 3171 | [+7] | |
Jul 31, 2023 | United Kingdom | Series A | 1828 | [+3] | |
Jun 22, 2023 | United Kingdom | Seed | 9437 | [+5] | |
Mar 22, 2023 | United Kingdom | Seed | 8214 | [+1] | |
Feb 07, 2023 | United Kingdom | Series B | 7372 | [+1] |
Unicorns in Forward Partners' Portfolio
Forward Partners has 2 unicorns in its portfolio - Zopa and Cazoo. The most recent unicorn in their portfolio is Zopa. It became a unicorn in 2021, 5 years before Forward Partners first invested in it.Here is a list of unicorns in Forward Partners' portfolio:
Tracxn Score | Company | Short Description | Founded year | Sector | Location | Company Stage | First Investment/ Acquisition Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
72 | Provider of digital banking services including loans savings and accounts | 2005 | London | Series H | savgwnw | ||
71 | Operator of a digital marketplace for buying used motor vehicles | 2018 | London | Series D | aketxfb |
IPOs and Publicly Listed companies in Forward Partners' Portfolio
1 of Forward Partners' portfolio company became public - RightClinic.Here are Forward Partners' portfolio companies that went public:
Company | IPO Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
- | Mar 18, 2015 | Seed | 5208 |
Acquired companies in Forward Partners' Portfolio
16 companies from Forward Partners' portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Robin in Jan 2026 by Microsoft for $*****.Here are Forward Partners' portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Jan 21, 2026 | Dec 19, 2021 | Seed | 1384 | |
Jan 14, 2026 | Jan 31, 2018 | Series A | 6583 | |
Jun 04, 2025 | Apr 2014 | Seed | 2666 | |
Mar 22, 2024 | Jun 09, 2014 | Seed | 5268 | |
Jun 13, 2023 | - | - | 2276 |
Team profile of Forward Partners
Forward Partners has a team of 2 members including 1 Partner and 1 Principal located in United Kingdom and United States. Forward Partners' team sits on the board of 1 company.Co-investors of Forward Partners
Over the past 13 years, 317 investors have co-invested in Forward Partners's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Forward Partners: Gov, Michael Pennington and 87 others have invested in rounds before Forward Partners. There are 3 companies where Gov has invested before Forward Partners and 2 companies where Michael Pennington has invested before Forward Partners.
- Top Co-investors of Forward Partners: 95 investors entered a company along with Forward Partners. These include investors like MMC Ventures (3 companies).
- Invested after Forward Partners: A total of 133 investors have invested in Forward Partners's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Triple Point (3 companies), Gov (2 companies) and Ukri (2 companies).
Recent News related to Forward Partners
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UK-based OctaiPipe received a £3 million investment led by Vestel Ventures and Tacirler Portföy.egirisim•Apr 19, 2024•OctaiPipe, Atlas Venture, Forward Partners, D2 Fund and 3 others
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OctaiPipe raises £3.5M in Pre-Series A funding for edge AI platformTech.eu•Jan 23, 2024•OctaiPipe, Ukri, SuperSeed, Forward Partners and 4 others
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Molten snaps up Forward Partners in £41m London tech dealCity A.M.•Nov 27, 2023•Molten Ventures, Forward Partners, Robin, Gravity Sketch Limited and 1 other
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Molten Ventures in £41m swoop for rival tech VCBusinessCloud•Nov 27, 2023•Molten Ventures, Forward Partners, BlackRock, British Patient Capital
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Ctrl Alt raises €2.5m with Enterprise Ireland supportSilicon Republic•Oct 24, 2023•Ctrl Alt, Forward Partners, MiddleGame Ventures, Enterprise Ireland and 4 others
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Ctrl Alt’s FinTech venture scoops up £2.2mFintech•Oct 24, 2023•Ctrl Alt, Forward Partners, MiddleGame Ventures
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London-based healthtech Béa Fertility raises €2.9 million to roll out inclusive at-home fertility treatmentEU-Startups•Jul 31, 2023•Béa Fertility, Octopus Ventures, JamJar Investments, Forward Partners and 4 others
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UK FinTech space ranks second worldwide despite a funding drop in H1 2023Fintech Finance•Jul 25, 2023•Lloyds Banking Group, Forward Partners, Founders Factory, CommerzVentures and 2 others
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Forward Partners cites strong portfolio amid AI investmentShareprices•Jul 24, 2023•Forward Partners, Koyo
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PocDoc announces £2.5M extension to Seed round, adds Simplyhealth Ventures to investorsPR Newswire•Mar 22, 2023•Forward Partners, PocDoc, Simplyhealth, MMC Ventures
