Investors and
operators.

Forward Invest is an investment holding based in Rome. We provide capital and operational support to founder-led technology companies, and we acquire small and mid-sized businesses in software, AI and cybersecurity, serving defence, energy and industry.

Multiple services.
One team.

Some founders need capital and a partner who has run a company like theirs. Others are looking for a buyer who will keep what they built intact. We do both, with the same team of engineers, operators and finance leaders who have founded, scaled and sold technology companies.

Forward Invest — Multiple services and shared executive bench across portfolio companies
Forward Invest Operating Model — One unified team across every portfolio company
How we operate

One team across
every company.

Each company we own keeps its name, its team and its customers. What changes is what sits behind it.

One operating team works across the whole group rather than company by company: a chief financial officer, a chief technology officer, a chief AI officer and a chief marketing officer. A founder gets a full leadership bench without having to hire one.

Behind the operating team sits a Board of Advisors with backgrounds in audit and defence. They keep our process and governance to the standard a future buyer would expect, and help open doors in regulated and defence markets.

Founders, managers, advisors and investors share in the same upside. When the group does well, everyone who built it does well.

TEAM

The people behind
Forward Invest.

Three or four lines each. The full story is on LinkedIn.

Board of Directors

Simone Massaro — President, Founder and CEO at Forward Invest
Simone Massaro

President and Founder

in ↗
Philippe Dieffenthaler — Board Director at Forward Invest
Philippe Dieffenthaler

Board Director

in ↗
Charles Dieffenthaler — Board Member and Chief Financial Officer at Forward Invest
Charles Dieffenthaler

Board Member and CFO

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Operating team

Simone Massaro

Chief Executive Officer

Simone Massaro — Chief Executive Officer at Forward Invest
Charles Dieffenthaler

Chief Financial Officer

Charles Dieffenthaler — Chief Financial Officer at Forward Invest
Lorenzo Massaro

Chief Technology Officer

Lorenzo Massaro — Chief Technology Officer at Forward Invest
Paolo Cenciarelli

Chief Marketing Officer

Paolo Cenciarelli — Chief Marketing Officer at Forward Invest
Eleanor Manley

Chief AI Officer

Eleanor Manley — Chief AI Officer at Forward Invest

Board of Advisor

Marco Coletta

Audit · Partner, AndPartners

Marco Coletta — Audit Advisor and Partner at AndPartners
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Rear Admiral (Ret.) Andrea Cottini

Defence · Italian Navy

Rear Admiral (Ret.) Andrea Cottini — Defence Advisor, Italian Navy
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Colonel Rosario D'Auria

Defence · Italian Air Force and NATO

Colonel Rosario D'Auria — Defence Advisor, Italian Air Force and NATO
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How we work

What we stand for.

Six principles. We write them down so we cannot drift from them.

Forward Invest Principle: Operators first — Run by technology founders
01.

Operators first

We founded, scaled and sold software companies before we invested in them. We know what a Tuesday looks like inside a company of thirty people, and we work at that level.

Forward Invest Principle: Clarity — Defined steps and written offers
02.

Clarity

A confidential, structured process with defined steps: NDA, written offer, diligence, closing. You know where you stand at every stage, and a no comes early.

Forward Invest Principle: Speed — Direct decision-makers from the first meeting
03.

Speed

Decision-makers sit at the table from the first meeting. Once fit is established we commit our time and can close in weeks, not months.

Forward Invest Principle: Flexibility — Full acquisition, gradual buyout, or minority partnership
04.

Flexibility

Full sale or gradual transition. Cash and equity in the group in the proportion that fits your plans. A minority stake where a partner is the right answer.

Forward Invest Principle: Discipline — Profitable unit economics and sustainable software growth
05.

Discipline

We price on fundamentals: recurring revenue, retention, profitability. The number we offer is one we stand behind through diligence and beyond.

Forward Invest Principle: Continuity — Preserving team, brand identity, and customer trust
06.

Continuity

Teams, brand and customer relationships stay at the centre of the company. Through the equity swap, you stay invested in the group your company helps build.