Forto becomes a unicorn with Softbank millions

In the latest round of financing, logistics start-up Forto receives 240 million US dollars. Softbank is a new participant.

Japanese telecoms group Softbank and existing investors including San Francisco VCs Citi Ventures and G Squared and London-based Northzone are putting $240 million into Berlin-based Forto. That brings the company's valuation to more than $1.2 billion, the equivalent of just over a billion euros. "To our knowledge, this is the largest financing round for a logistics start-up in Europe," Forto co-founder and CEO Michael Wax told the Handelsblatt.

Forto wants to put the money into business between China and Europe. The logistics start-up offers a platform through which customers can optimise their supply chain. The Berlin-based start-up promises savings of 30 percent in administrative costs and 15 percent in total costs per transport. Forto has more than 2,500 customers and operates 10 offices worldwide with currently more than 500 employees. Forto was founded in 2016. "A delivery from Shanghai to a warehouse in Berlin shouldn't be any more complicated than a payment via Paypal or Stripe," Wax told Reuters.

The current round brings the total investment volume in Forto to more than $300 million. Alongside Sennder, Forto is now the second German logistics start-up with a Unicorn rating. But the Berliners do not see any competition in Sennder: "We rather complement each other, on the last part of the transport route, the overland route, Sennder could even be a partner for us," Wax says to Founderscene.