Forto, a logistics technology company supported by two of the world’s largest global investment companies and which became a unicorn shortly after its establishment, chose Turkiye as its new base. The company opened a technology office in ITU ARI Teknokent.
Berlin-based Forto, backed by world-class global investment companies such as SoftBank and Northzone, is one of the startups receiving the highest amount of investment capital in the European logistics and supply chain industry.
Forto, one of the leading companies in logistics and supply chain solutions, chose Istanbul as one of its bases outside Berlin. For this purpose, the company opened a technology office at ITU ARI Teknokent.
In the first phase, the company will employ 20 software engineers in its Istanbul office. 8 software engineers started working at the office opening on April 16. The remaining 12 software engineers will be hired within a month after the necessary interviews. Forto Chief Product Officer (CPO) Kamil Bugra Rodoper spoke at the opening ceremony attended by ARI Teknokent General Manager Prof. Dr. Attila Dikbas as well as managers from Forto’s Berlin and London offices. “We are very excited to have established one of our technology team’s base in Istanbul and to be a part of Turkiye’s rapidly growing technology and entrepreneurship ecosystem. The decision to expand our technology team in Istanbul emphasizes our belief in the engineering and technology talent that Turkiye has produced and the potential of that talent.”
Forto is valued at $2.1 billion
Rodoper stated that Forto’s expertise, a unicorn with an investment of nearly $600 million and a valuation of $2.1 billion, is on the development of the technology infrastructure of sustainable global supply chains and thus removing operational and inherent obstacles to global trade. “We employ more than 700 personnel in 7 countries and 15 locations. As Forto, we are determined to question the current methods of the traditional logistics industry and eliminate the chronic problems of existing logistics applications and technology infrastructure by developing artificial intelligence-based system solutions.”
The technology center in Istanbul will play an important role in accelerating Forto’s strategy to offer advanced technology and software solutions in the industry. The main focuses of the technology center will include artificial intelligence-based document and workflow automation solutions and predictive cargo management and allocation systems.
Forto aims to be a global leader
Founded in 2016 as FreightHub, Forto redefines logistics and supply chain by combining technology, data and industry expertise and aims to become a global leader in managing sustainable global supply chains. In addition to its expansion in Europe and Asia, with its local agency network and more than 100 Air & Sea transportation partnerships, Forto continues its determined investments in ensuring sustainable global supply chains for world brands. Forto’s scalable logistics solutions appeal to companies from different sectors, aiming to help businesses achieve their goals with effective, transparent and sustainable logistics practices.
Source: Egirisim / Prepared by Irem Yildiz