Forward Partners are a venture firm based in Hoxton, London. We're investors in early stage ecommerce companies. If you’re smart and you’ve got a smart idea, Forward can offer you an unfair advantage. Our resident team have both the experience and the proven methodologies to ensure you succeed. We do more than advise and mentor. We share the challenges of finding talent, acquiring customers, coding, design, testing and analysis.

1. H O W W E P A R T N E R W I T H
I D E A S T A G E E N T R E P R E N E U R S

2. Our experienced in-house team helps entrepreneurs succeed.
We do more than advise and mentor. We share the challenges of
finding talent, customer acquisition, coding, design, testing and
analysis.
To help stay fully engaged, we house our partner companies in
our shared office space in Hoxton.
No product, no team, no traction? No problem.
Welcome to Forward Partners – your unfair advantage.
W E H E L P E C O M M E R C E I D E A S
F O R M S T R O N G B U S I N E S S E S

3. FORWARD
Funding (up to £250k)
Skilled team to help you with
research, design, development and
marketing
Help to find and build your own team
Partners House, our collaborative
work space
YOU
Passion, vision and drive
Deep understanding of your
customers and market opportunity
W E P A R T N E R W I T H I D E A S T A G E
E N T R E P R E N E U R S

4. We provide rugged methods and heaps of ingenuity to help you
transform your idea into an exciting business
 No code
 Solo founder
 Pre-funding
 No customers
 Working product
 Own team
 Series A funding
 Rapidly scaling
Problem
solution
fit
Product
market
fit
Business
model
fit
12 MONTHS
O U R P A R T N E R S M A K E R E A L
P R O G R E S S I N 1 2 M O N T H S

5. Y O U ’ R E I N G O O D C O M P A N Y

6. Rent space for pop up shops
Last minute deals for self-catered
cottages across the UK
Lexoo helps SMEs compare and
get quotes from trusted lawyers.
Smarter parcel delivery
for any size business
S O M E O F O U R P A R T N E R S

7. F U N D I N G

8. £30k
Tranche 1
£90k
Tranche 2
£130k
Tranche 3
Months 0-2 Months 3-6 Months 7-12
F U N D I N G F O R Y O U R
F I R S T 1 2 M O N T H S
Each tranche is released at mutual agreement subject to pre-agreed milestones being reached

9. P A R T N E R S H O U S E

10. Partners House in Hoxton serves to house your business and our
support team. It’s a big airy space with three meeting rooms and two
gardens.
– Located on East Road, 5 minutes from Old Street tube station
– You can use up to 6 desks for the first 12 months
– You’ll have full use of shared facilities (meeting rooms, printer, coffee,
wifi etc.)
O U R H O U S E I S Y O U R H O U S E

11. E X P E R T T E A M

12. It’s completely up to you as to how much you use us.
You decide on how much help you need as you go.
Free help
• Talent Management
• Finance and operations set up
• Fundraising advisory
Subsidised help
• Product
• Development
• Design
• Marketing
O U R T E A M C A N H E L P Y O U R I D E A
B E C O M E A B U S I N E S S

13. We help you build a world class team, starting with a co-founder if you
need one. Our Head of Talent will be at your disposal from day one and
can help you with the following;
 Recruitment process
 Drafting job specifications
 Finding candidates
 Applicant tracking toolkit
 Interview training
 Interviewing
 Employment contracts
 Employer branding
B U I L D I N G Y O U R T E A M

14. Every company requires some financial and legal setup. Instead of you
figuring out how to do this for the first time, we help you to do it fast
because we’ve done it many times before…
 Providing support in registering company
 Introductions to bank and help with setting up bank account/credit cards
 Tax registration
 Help with setting up PAYE scheme:
 Help with setting up VAT scheme
 Help with finding an accountant
 Help with setting up accounting systems/software
F I N A N C E A N D
O P E R A T I O N S S E T - U P

15. When you go out to raise your Series A funding, we’ve got your back
and we can help you on your way.
 A comprehensive list of potential angels and investors
 Insight on what the investors are like
 Make introductions
 A comprehensive set of resources to understand the process (valuations,
terms, etc.)
 Help with writing a great pitch deck
 1-2-1 pitch coaching
 Help managing the process
 Help completing Companies House filings
F U N D R A I S I N G A D V I S O R Y

16. At the earliest stage of your company, investing time and effort into
understanding your customers is key to building the right MVP. Our
product team can help you do that quickly, using lean methodologies, so
that your first product iterations have a greater chance of success.
 Customer interviews to understand real needs
 User story definition for minimum viable product / landing pages (v0)
 Analyse response to v0, define iterations needed
 Feature set definition, AB tests, test pricing models
 User story definition for hi-fidelity fully functioning MVP
 Real time dashboard
 Road mapping and product plan
P R O D U C T

17. We believe that leading companies have leading design. From the very
first version, your product can look world class.
 Branding and identity
 Wireframes and simple UI designs
 High fidelity UX designs
 Responsive websites
 App design
 Email templates
 Marketing collateral
D E S I G N

18. Our tech team can quickly build web and mobile applications. We can
set up your hosting, source control, databases and monitoring as well as
building out the first versions of your product.
 Data gathering scripts for research
 Build MVP
 Set up analytics
 Research technical options
 Set up necessary 3rd party accounts
 Build iterations
 Build fully functional initial feature set
 Hand over tech to your own team
 Advisory role to new team
D E V E L O P M E N T

19. Our expert marketing team will help you understand your audience and
cost effectively acquire your first customers.
 Market research and sizing, competitor analysis
 Customer segment attractiveness analysis
 Research company name and identity choices
 Advise on tracking tools needed
 Test alternative propositions, channels and messaging
 Customer persona development, communications strategy
 Keyword research
 Test channel efficiency and effectiveness, trial alternate channels
 Build a longer term marketing plan
 Advisory role to new team
M A R K E T I N G A N D G R O W T H

20. S T A R T E R P A C K

21. Get a flying start. We provide a comprehensive starter pack of useful
services and tools.
 $15,000 free Amazon Web Services credits + 1 year support
 Google Cloud Platform partnership; $100k credit + 24/7 support
 Google Adwords vouchers to get you started
 £10,000 worth of free payment transactions on Stripe
 Free first transactions with SwapForex
– and more!
F R E E S E R V I C E S
A N D P R O D U C T S

22. Whilst you are with us you also have free use of these tools.
USEFUL MARKETING TOOLS

23. W E E K L Y C A T C H - U P S

24. Early stage companies move fast. Instead of having monthly board
meetings, we have a weekly half hour catch-up between entrepreneurs
and our investment partners.
These meetings are collaborative. It’s not scary; we are always looking
at how we can help you as much as possible.
When the business model is proven and ready to scale monthly board
meetings become appropriate.
A G I L E I N V E S T O R
C A T C H - U P S

25. N E T W O R K I N G A N D E V E N T S

26. Partners House is a hive of activity and gives you access to people,
ideas and discussions you’d not otherwise have. We organise regular
social events for partners.
Once a month we have events (#FPlive) where high profile speakers
join us for an invitation only discussion and networking.
Partner companies stay in touch and support each other once they’ve
left Partners House.
C O N N E C T I N G Y O U T O A V I B R A N T
C O M M U N I T Y

27. G E T I N T O U C H

28. Everything we do is tailored to help entrepreneurs succeed.
We aim to be the most helpful early stage investor.
Can we help you?
www.forwardpartners.com
@ForwardPrt