International law firm CMS has advised Fuse Venture Partners on its investment in partnership with Cherry Ventures, in the USD 240m Series C+ funding raised by logistics solutions provider Forto.
The investment round was led by Softbank Vision Fund 21, with participation from Citi Ventures and G Squared, and strong backing from existing investors including Northzone, Inven Capital, Cherry Ventures and Unbound. With this round, Forto has now earned the status of ‘unicorn’ with a valuation of USD 1.2bn.
Germany-based Forto is leading a new generation of disruptive logistics companies, using its digital platform to simplify interactions, remove process friction and increase supply chain visibility. Its clients include some of the largest businesses in Europe such as Home 24 and Edeka. With the latest investment, Forto plans to significantly expand its geographical footprint, technology platform and customer operations.
Fuse Venture Partners, an investment and advisory firm, focuses on scale up strategies, helping high-growth companies gain momentum through investment, corporate development and strategic initiatives.
Tony Waller, CMS Corporate partner, comments: “During times of rapid change and uncertainty, we are pleased to have supported Fuse in its successful investment in Forto’s latest fundraising round and to have assisted in securing yet another high-growth tech-focused company in its expanding portfolio.”
Spyro Korsanos, Managing General Partner at Fuse Venture Partners, comments: “Forto is leading the digital transformation of container shipping, and its successful funding round highlights the appetite for this within the shipping industry. We are very happy to have been able to contribute to the funding and add such a forward-looking and successful company to our portfolio with the help of CMS and our trusted partners at Cherry Ventures.”
The team advising Fuse Venture Partners included Ed Kingsbury and Miles Higgins from CMS UK, Dr Florian Plagemann, Dr Jörg Zätzsch, Dr Daniel Voigt, and Dr Cornelia Wiendl from CMS Germany, and Stephane Boutoundou and Aurelien Hollard from CMS Luxembourg.
