FORWARD.One

Overview
FORWARD.One is a Netherlands-based venture-capital and venture-building firm focused on European deep-tech and industrial-hardware scale-ups. The firm led the June 2025 EUR 15 million Series B round of Aachen-headquartered German cleantech company Voltfang, funding the launch of what Voltfang describes as Europe's largest second-life battery factory.

Why this entity matters
FORWARD.One is a directly-relevant reference entity for Startuprad.io's DACH cleantech and European deep-tech coverage for three reasons. First, as the confirmed lead investor of the Voltfang Series B (corroborated across FORWARD.One's own release, electrive.com and EU-Startups) it is one of the most visible cross-border deep-tech leads currently active in the German cleantech ecosystem. Second, its investment thesis on European deep-tech and industrial hardware maps directly to the industrial-strategy conversation that Startuprad.io covers across battery, energy and manufacturing verticals. Third, FORWARD.One's lead role in a mid-stage German cleantech round is a data point about the cross-border capital flow between Benelux deep-tech investors and German industrial-hardware scale-ups, a recurring theme in Startuprad.io's European venture-capital coverage.

Firm history and strategy
FORWARD.One is publicly presented as a venture-capital and venture-building firm active in European deep-tech and industrial-hardware companies, with a focus on Series A and Series B stages. The firm's own website (https://www.forward.one) positions the platform around scaling European deep-tech operators through combined capital and operating support. In June 2025 FORWARD.One announced its lead role in the Voltfang Series B round (EUR 15 million) via its own newsroom (https://www.forward.one/news/voltfang-secures-eu15-million-series-b-funding-to-boost-grid-resilience-across-europe); this attribution was independently confirmed by electrive.com (14 June 2025) and by EU-Startups (June 2025) and by the recipient company. Beyond Voltfang, FORWARD.One's portfolio composition and fund vintages are subject to change and should be verified against the firm's own portfolio page rather than restated from third-party summaries.

Role in the DACH and European technology ecosystem
FORWARD.One sits at the intersection of two structural European tech themes that Startuprad.io covers regularly. First, it is one of the Netherlands-based deep-tech investors most visibly active in leading later-stage rounds in German industrial-hardware companies, evidenced by the Voltfang Series B lead. Second, its thesis on European deep-tech and industrial hardware aligns with the European industrial-strategy debate on batteries, energy transition and manufacturing sovereignty. For Startuprad.io's DACH coverage, FORWARD.One is a relevant entity primarily through the Voltfang relationship and through the broader Benelux-DACH deep-tech capital corridor.

Selected relationships and affiliations
Publicly disclosed lead-investor role: Voltfang Series B (June 2025, EUR 15 million). Public co-investors in the Voltfang Series B round include Interzero, PT1, Helen Ventures, Daphni, Aurum Impact, Fiege Ventures and Newberry Investments. Country of domicile: Netherlands. Related Startuprad.io entities: Voltfang (portfolio company).

Startuprad.io relevance
FORWARD.One is a relevant entity in Startuprad.io's DACH cleantech and European venture-capital coverage primarily through its June 2025 lead role in the Voltfang Series B and through the wider Benelux-DACH deep-tech investor corridor. It appears in Startuprad.io's Voltfang interview and cleantech-investor analysis coverage.

Public source context
This profile draws on FORWARD.One's own release https://www.forward.one/news/voltfang-secures-eu15-million-series-b-funding-to-boost-grid-resilience-across-europe , the firm's website https://www.forward.one , electrive.com's Voltfang Series B coverage https://www.electrive.com/2025/06/14/battery-storage-startup-voltfang-secures-e15-million-investment/ and EU-Startups' Voltfang Series B coverage https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/06/german-cleantech-startup-voltfang-secures-e15-million-and-launches-europes-largest-second-life-battery-factory/ .

Startuprad.io coverage of FORWARD.One

As of 2026-09-11 Startuprad.io does not maintain a dedicated blog tag for FORWARD.One ; the entity is referenced in Startuprad.io's Voltfang interview and cleantech-investor analysis coverage at https://www.startuprad.io/post/voltfang-second-life-battery-factory-aachen and https://www.startuprad.io/post/top-vc-firms-investing-in-cleantech-startup .

About this record. This is the public Level 1 layer of Startuprad.io's entity intelligence architecture. Startuprad.io's deeper entity intelligence may include extended profiles, verified relationships, source trails, historical development, monitoring, news signals, custom entity sets, and analytical relationship mapping. These deeper layers are available through Startuprad.io's research, intelligence, and enterprise services.

Need deeper entity intelligence? Startuprad.io provides extended profiles, monitored entity sets, relationship analysis, source-backed research, and custom intelligence services for companies, investors, and institutions. -> https://www.startuprad.io/become-a-partner

Startuprad.io coverage

Voltfang: How Aachen's €15M Startup Turns Used EV Batteries Into Grid Storage
Published: 28 July 2025
Last updated: 11 September 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/voltfang-second-life-battery-factory-aachen

Top VC Firms Investing in Cleantech Startup
Published: 29 July 2025
Last updated: 7 September 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/top-vc-firms-investing-in-cleantech-startup

About Startuprad.io
Startuprad.io is a European B2B media, data and intelligence platform. It provides structured entity and ecosystem data, source-backed research, datasets and AI/training-data solutions, as well as strategic visibility and access to a professional European audience of founders, investors, executives and B2B decision-makers.

Organizations use Startuprad.io for intelligence and research, structured data and AI applications, executive and company positioning, and trusted B2B reach across Europe.

Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/forward-one