A partner for what
you have built.
Capital and operational support for founder-led technology companies, or a buyer for what you have built. A flexible approach to each founder's next chapter.
A letter to founders.
Dear founder,
I built software companies for twenty-five years before I invested in one. I know what it takes: the customers who call at night, the product decisions nobody else can make, the payroll that has to go out on Friday. At some point the thing you built became something your customers cannot work without. That is the kind of company we are looking for.
Forward Invest was started on a simple belief: founders deserve investors who have built technology companies themselves. Capital alone rarely decides whether a business succeeds. What makes the difference is a partner who understands the technology and the journey, and who has personally faced the same problems.
Some founders want to keep running what they built. Some are ready to step back. Many are somewhere in between. We do not think there is one right answer, and we have structured ourselves so we do not have to force one on you.
What we can do is take off your plate the things that are hard for a small company to do alone: finance, technology, AI, go-to-market, the next acquisition. Not by building a corporate layer around you, but by putting people who have done it before next to you.
I would like to hear about what you have built. You do not need to be thinking about a transaction today. Some of the best conversations start years before one.
Buyer, or partner.
You choose.
Two paths, one team behind both.
We invest alongside you
Where you want a partner rather than a buyer, we provide capital and operational support. Tickets up to €100K for a minority stake, and our operating team works with yours on finance, technology, AI and go-to-market. You keep control. We bring the bench.
We acquire your company
In full, or step by step over time. Most of the price is paid in cash at closing, and part of it can be swapped into equity in the group, so you stay invested in what your company helps build. You can stay in the chair, step back gradually, or hand over to a team we put in place together.
Three pillars.
Software, AI and cybersecurity companies whose customers work in defence, energy and industry. Markets where the product is part of a regulated or physical process, and switching is a project, not a decision.
Defence and dual-use
Software, sensors and secure communications for military and government buyers.
Energy and industrial automation
Software for power, utilities, process control and the factory floor.
Enterprise software, AI and cybersecurity
Vertical applications serving manufacturing, logistics and critical infrastructure.
Platform: acquisitions in Italy and Europe. Add-ons for companies we already own can come from anywhere.
Founder-led
You founded a software, AI or cybersecurity company, and you still lead it.
Profitable
€500K or more in revenue, and the business makes money.
Critical to customers
They renew because the product is part of how they work.
Built to build on
The technology is modern enough to grow.
Europe, Italy first
We start at home and go where the right companies are.
Open to a partner
You want more than a cheque: people who have run a company like yours.
What happens
after you sell.
Selling your company is only the beginning. What matters is what happens after the deal closes, and different buyers take very different approaches.
| Private equity fund | Strategic acquirer | Forward Invest | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time horizon | Three to five years, then a sale | Held as part of the wider business | No fixed deadline. We decide on the merits of the business. |
| Who runs it | Management may change after the deal | Usually folded into a business unit | The founder, with an operating team behind them. |
| The brand | May be kept or changed | Often absorbed or renamed | Kept. Your name stays on the door. |
| The product | Developed with the exit in mind | Shaped by the needs of the wider group | Built on. Shared engineering and an AI roadmap add to it. |
| Your upside | Ends at closing, or a small rollover | Ends at closing | Continues. You hold equity in the group. |
From first conversation to closing.
Four steps. Weeks, not months.
Conversation
and NDA
A confidential conversation, founder to founder. If we both see a fit, we sign an NDA. Your information stays private either way.
Letter of
intent
One C-suite governs all portfolio companies, not seven boards.
Diligence,
together
We verify the numbers together and guide you through every document. One point of contact throughout.
Closing
A deal structure that works for you: cash at closing, equity in the group, a full exit or a gradual one. Contracts signed, and our work starts.
Three questions founders ask us.
Each one answered by the person on our advisory board who deals with it.
“Will the process be fair?”
Colonel D'Auria audits management systems for NATO. He applies the same standard to our own process: clear steps, written offers.
“Will my numbers be
treated fairly?”
Marco Coletta spent twenty years in audit and due diligence at EY and UHY. He reviews your books after the NDA, and he does this for a living.
“Can they open doors
I cannot?”
Rear Admiral Cottini commanded across the Mediterranean. In defence and regulated markets, he walks your product into closed rooms.
Whether that means selling today, years from now,
or simply finding the right long-term owner,
we’re always happy to start a conversation.