DLA Piper has advised Citi Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Citi, on an investment in Forto GmbH as part of a Series C financing round led by SoftBank. Forto, a leading provider of digitized freight forwarding and supply chain solutions, raised USD240 million in this investment round. The round was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. In addition to Citi Ventures, G Squared also participated in the round, backed up by existing investors including Northzone, Cherry Ventures, and Unbound. With this financing round, Forto’s valuation now stands at USD1.2 Billion. The transaction remains subject to statutory closing conditions and is expected to conclude in the next few weeks.

This latest investment validates the market opportunity of Forto to shape a more efficient, modern global supply chain. The Berlin company, which employs over 550 people at 11 locations across Europe and Asia and has more than 2,500 customers around the world, is using its digital platform to simplify interactions, remove process friction, and increase supply chain visibility — in turn empowering customers with better insights to make smarter decisions. Some of the largest businesses in Europe rely on Forto with transportation of their goods.

Citi Ventures harnesses the power of Citi to help people, businesses, and communities thrive in a world of technological change by investing in innovative startups, and working with colleagues, clients, and the innovation ecosystem to experiment with next-generation technologies. Citi is a leading global bank with approximately 200 million customer accounts, which does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions.

The DLA Piper team was led by partner Gerald Schumann and also comprised counsel Dr Christoph Dachner and senior associate Hanna Lütkens (all Corporate/M&A, Munich).