The maritime leg of global supply chains remains highly complex with multinational paperwork, variable vessel schedules, port congestion, multi-party coordination and limited real-time visibility all creating delays, extra costs and uncertainty for ship owners, charterers, ship agents and cargo owners. Forto addresses these problems by providing end-to-end digital visibility, automated document handling and predictive notifications aimed at reducing friction in sea freight operations. Designed for maritime stakeholders, such as ship operators arranging cargo transfers, owners coordinating bunkering/arrival windows, or logistics teams handling imports, Forto’s carrier integrations and automated exception handling directly reduces dwell times, demurrage risk and manual coordination overhead. 

Forto (formerly FreightHub), founded in Berlin in 2016 by Michael Wax, Erik Muttersbach, Ferry Heilemann and Fabian Heilemann, is a digital freight forwarder and supply chain technology company that aims to make international shipments as simple and reliable as modern digital payments. The company grew from an online booking service into a full-stack logistics provider offering sea, air and rail freight, customs handling, warehousing and an integrated Transport Management System (TMS). Forto’s platform centralises bookings, documents and live shipment status so shippers and logistics teams can replace fragmented emails, spreadsheets and phone calls with structured data and automated workflows. 

Forto’s product portfolio spans sea freight (FCL/LCL), air freight, rail, warehousing and customs. Its digital services provide consolidated shipment dashboards, automated document capture and a structured operational dataset that enables faster booking, fewer errors and proactive rerouting when disruptions occur. For seafarers and shipboard operations, the practical benefits include clearer ETAs for cargo to be loaded or discharged, simplified customs paperwork hand-offs to agents ashore, and improved coordination between vessel operations and terminal/haulage providers, reducing wasted berth time and uncertainty during port calls. For logistics teams ashore, Forto enables unified reporting, carbon accounting options (biofuel choices and emissions tracking) and the possibility to automate repetitive tasks via AI agents. 

Forto collects structured operational data across booking, carrier confirmations, vessel schedules, port events and customs filings . It operates continuously from pre-booking and tendering through in-transit monitoring to delivery and invoicing and connects origins, transshipment hubs and destination ports worldwide. In practice, Forto combines a human-verified operational dataset with automation and AI tools (most recently marketed as “Flash by Forto”), which can extract data from emails, auto-create bookings, suggest carriers and handle routine operator workflows, thereby scaling operational throughput and consistency. For maritime clients, this means faster booking confirmations for vessel slots, automated generation of customs manifests and proactive change notifications to the vessel agent and ship’s operator, improving coordination between shipboard teams and shore side logistics. 

Forto’s major advantages include measurable efficiency gains through faster booking cycles, centralized documentation, real-time visibility and automated exception workflows that cut administrative burden and reduce demurrage/detention exposure. The company’s structured dataset and growing AI capabilities also enable richer analytics and sustainability reporting (e.g., offering biofuel options and emissions tracking), which helps companies meet regulatory and corporate-ESG requirements. On the downside, effective adoption requires digital readiness: shippers, carriers and port agents must integrate or at least interact reliably with digital interfaces; not all regions or local partners operate at the same digital maturity, so gaps in partner systems can reintroduce manual work. It should also be noted that a forwarder’s control is still limited by physical constraints (port congestion, vessel disruptions, labour strikes) and by external carriers; digital systems such as Forto reduce but cannot totally eliminate all operational risks. 

Forto has attracted significant strategic investors and partners, including SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and institutional backers such as the European Investment Bank. It has partnerships across carriers, terminals and local logistics providers across the 70+ countries it covers. Large commercial clients publicly referenced include Home24 and Edeka, while Forto’s customer case studies also highlight collaborations with companies pursuing lower-carbon shipping options and integrated global supply-chain transformations.

Final thought

Forto represents a decisive shift toward a more transparent, automated and resilient model of global logistics, one that is especially valuable for the maritime domain, where complexity and uncertainty are the norm. By integrating real-time visibility, structured operational data and AI-driven workflow automation, Forto reduces friction across the entire sea-freight chain, from booking and customs handling to port coordination and delivery. Its ability to unify documentation, automate repetitive tasks and provide predictive insights helps maritime stakeholders operate with greater consistency, lower risk and improved sustainability. Backed by major investors and strengthened by a broad global partner network, Forto is not simply digitising freight. It is shaping the future operating system for modern maritime logistics.

References 

Forto. (2024, December 6). Forto raises $240 million in funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at $1.2 billion valuation (press release). https://forto.com/en/press-releases/forto-raises-240-million-in-funding-led-by-softbank-vision-fund-2-at-1-2-billion-valuation/ 

Forto. (2025, November 3). Forto launches Flash by Forto – transforming global freight operations (press release). https://forto.com/en/press-releases/forto-launches-flash-by-forto-to-transform-global-freight-operations/ 

Forto. (n.d.). Customer stories / Solutions. https://forto.com/en/customer-stories/

; https://forto.com/en/solutions/sea-freight/ 

Reuters. (2021, June 20). Freight tech startup Forto raises $240 million in SoftBank-led round. https://www.reuters.com/business/freight-tech-startup-forto-raises-240-million-softbank-led-round-2021-06-21/

TechCrunch. (2021, June 23). Forto raises $240M in funding led by SoftBank. https://techcrunch.com/2021/06/23/forto-raises-240m-in-funding-round-led-by-softbank-taking-its-valuation-to-1-2bn/