Forto

Shipping a container from Asia to Europe through traditional channels meant dealing with an opaque and fragmented supply chain: local agents, paper habits, email updates, and phone calls just to find out where your cargo was. Forto was founded in Berlin to bring the same transparency and control to international freight forwarding that consumers expect from a retail delivery. Forto's digital platform manages international shipments by sea, air, and rail, covering the entire process from booking cargo space to document management, real-time tracking, and predictive supply chain analytics. Customers — both SMEs and large corporations — gain end-to-end visibility that was previously available only to multinationals with dedicated logistics teams, and can make operational decisions based on real data rather than estimates. The global freight forwarding market moves trillions of dollars annually but is still dominated by traditional operators working with manual processes and outdated IT infrastructure. Digitalization in this sector lags well behind other parts of the supply chain, creating a window of opportunity for technology players capable of earning the trust of importers and exporters. Founded by Michael Wax, Ferry Heilemann, and Erik Muttersbach, Forto has differentiated itself by emphasizing predictive analytics and strategic supply chain planning support — not just cargo booking. Its business model is end-to-end digital freight management: Forto is not simply a marketplace but a logistics operator that takes on the full operational complexity on behalf of its clients. The ability to aggregate data on routes, transit times, carriers, and costs — and turn that data into operational recommendations — is the value that distinguishes Forto from a simple digital broker. In a world where supply chain disruptions have become a systemic risk, predictive visibility is no longer a luxury but an operational necessity.