Forto
Digital freight forwarder booking and tracking ocean and air cargo shipments for businesses.
The call
Forto is on the block through Moelis & Co. after headcount cuts and a CEO change, while Flexport ships AI tools and legacy forwarders digitize with bigger checkbooks.
Forto helps companies ship goods across the world by making freight forwarding faster and easier to book online, competing against old-school companies like DHL and Maersk. The company got ahead by being digital when competitors were slow, but that edge is fading: the big traditional shippers are now building their own digital tools with more money, and Flexport has launched AI-powered booking and routing systems that do what Forto does. The company has cut its workforce in half, stopped raising new money, and hired investment bankers to explore a sale, which usually means the story is winding down rather than accelerating. What could change everything is a strong strategic buyer paying a fair price, landing major new customer contracts with proof they stick around, or a surprising turnaround move by the new CEO.
Why
01
AI pressure: Flexport. Flexport shipped AI Search and Atlas for quoting and routing, copying the speed edge Forto used to sell as its difference. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.
02
Bigger players: DHL Global Forwarding, Kuehne+Nagel, DSV, Maersk, DB Schenker. These giants are digitizing booking and tracking with far more capital and existing freight volume than Forto ever had. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Existing shipper relationships on Asia to Europe lanes and whatever book of business survives the sale process.
What would change this call
Moelis & Co. sale process concludes with named buyer and disclosed price. Shows whether Forto exits above, at, or below its $2.1B 2022 valuation.
Further headcount cuts or office closures announced in 2026. Confirms continued shrinkage rather than turnaround under CEO Petit-Perrin.
Any new priced funding round announced by Forto. Would signal investor confidence and capital to compete, absent so far since 2022.
Further headcount cuts or office closures announced in 2026. Confirms continued shrinkage rather than turnaround under CEO Petit-Perrin.
Any new priced funding round announced by Forto. Would signal investor confidence and capital to compete, absent so far since 2022.
Key numbers
- Cut headcount roughly 50% since 2023
- No priced round since $2.1B round in March 2022
- Estimated $269M revenue against $2.1B valuation
Named risks
- No new priced funding round since March 2022 while pursuing a sale process.
- Three rounds of layoffs since 2023 cut headcount roughly in half from a peak of about 900.
- Core digital-forwarding differentiator being commoditized by Flexport's AI Search and Atlas.
- Sale process via Moelis & Co may conclude below the $2.1B March 2022 valuation.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Flexport | losing to | Shipped AI Search and Flexport Atlas in Winter 2026 Release; no comparable Forto feature confirmed |
| DHL Global Forwarding, Kuehne+Nagel, DSV, Maersk | losing to | Legacy forwarders digitizing with far greater capital than Forto as of 2026 |
| sennder | gaining on | Acquired C.H. Robinson's European Surface Transportation unit in July 2024, revenue near $1.5B |
Questions people ask
- Is Forto profitable in 2026?
- Forto has not disclosed audited revenue or profit figures. It has cut headcount three times since 2023, engaged Moelis & Co in February 2025 to explore a sale, and raised no new priced funding since its $250M Series D in March 2022, patterns consistent with financial pressure rather than profitability.
- Is Forto being sold or acquired?
- As of February 18, 2025, Forto engaged investment bank Moelis & Co to explore a merger or sale and reached out to competitors for early-stage talks, per FreightWaves. Founder Michael Wax told The Information there was 'no process ongoing right now'; no confirmed sale outcome has been reported since.
- Has Forto had layoffs?
- Yes, three rounds: about 10% of staff cut in January 2023 (mostly November 2022), about 75 more jobs cut in October 2023 when Forto closed its Bremen and Madrid offices, and roughly 200 employees, about one third of remaining staff, laid off in April 2025.
- Who owns Forto and who runs it now?
- Forto is privately held and venture-backed, with SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Disruptive Technology Advisers, Northzone, G Squared and A.P. Moller Holding among investors from its March 2022 $250M Series D at a $2.1B valuation. In February 2025, founder Michael Wax stepped down to chairman and CFO Guillaume Petit-Perrin became CEO.
- Could AI replace Forto's freight forwarding service?
- Forto's core value, digitized quoting, booking, document automation, and tracking, is exactly what larger rival Flexport's AI Search and Flexport Atlas agentic routing tools target, shipped in Flexport's Winter 2026 Release. Forto's own 'FortoLabs' AI initiative is vendor-promoted on forto.com with no independently verified business impact.
- Who is Forto's biggest competitor?
- Flexport, a larger, better-capitalized US digital freight forwarder now positioning around AI features like AI Search and Atlas as of January 2026, plus legacy giants DHL Global Forwarding, Kuehne+Nagel, DSV and Maersk who are digitizing with far greater capital than Forto.
Timeline
- 2025-04-08Laid off about 200 employees, roughly one third of remaining staff, amid CEO transition
- 2025-02-18Engaged Moelis & Co to explore merger or sale, early-stage talks with competitors reported
- 2025-02-01Founder Michael Wax stepped down to chairman, CFO Guillaume Petit-Perrin became CEO
- 2023-10-30Closed Bremen and Madrid offices, cut about 75 more jobs
- 2023-01-18Cut about 10% of global headcount, mostly from November 2022 layoffs
- 2022-03-07Raised $250M Series D led by Disruptive Technology Advisers at $2.1B valuation
- 2021-06-21Raised $240M Series C led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at $1.2B valuation, became unicorn
- 2020-04Rebranded from FreightHub to Forto
- 2016-07Founded in Berlin as FreightHub by Michael Wax, Erik Muttersbach, Ferry and Fabian Heilemann
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Little protection left. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- What is Brief History of Forto Company?
- Report: Flexport Business Breakdown & Founding Story (2026-02-05)
- Forto 2026 Company Profile
- Forto Raises $240 Million in Funding Led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (2021-06-21)
- Forto Raises $250M in Series D Funding; Valued at $2.1 Billion (2022-03-07)
- Forto 'sharpens commercial priorities' as it lays off one-third of staff (2025-04-08)
- Reports: Freight forwarder Forto looking for a buyer (2025-02-18)
- Forto funding: Freight tech startup Forto raises $240 million in SoftBank-led round (2021-06-21)
- Investing in Forto, a Leading Digital Logistics Platform (2021-10-04)
- $269M Est. ARR, $2.1B Valuation (2025-11-27)
- Forto axed 10% of staff, but is now 'lean' enough to weather the downturn (2023-01-18)
- Forto lays off more staff as it closes offices in Bremen and Madrid (2023-10-30)