Glob Disrupt Pf Regulatory News (FWD)

 Forward Partners Group plc

("Forward Partners" or "the Group")

PORTFOLIO UPDATE AND ACCESS TO RECENT INVESTOR EVENT PRESENTATIONS

Forward Partners Group plc (LSE: FWD), the London-based investment firm specialising in supporting high growth, early-stage technology businesses, is pleased to announce three significant updates within its portfolio.

● Koyo expands credit facility to £100m and completes £5m equity raise.

● Outthink completes a seed-stage $10m raise.

● Makers completes a £7m raise.

Koyo

Koyo (www.koyoloans.com), a UK-based open banking powered consumer lender, has recently completed an expansion of its credit facility to £100m and a £5m equity raise.

The company is the UK's biggest 'open banking led' lending platform. Its technology enables accurate risk assessment, unlocking affordable credit for new market segments. Koyo has grown rapidly since its inception in 2018, partnering with every major UK comparison site and has originating over £50m in credit over the last two years.

This recent credit facility has been secured from Atalaya Capital Management, a New York-based alternative investment advisory firm. Force Over Mass led the equity raise, with participation from Forward Partners, Frontline Ventures, Atalaya Capital Management and high-net-worth investors. Forward invested £0.5m into the raise.

The company will use the funding to invest in its leadership and expand their reach into adjacent markets.

Outthink

Outthink (www.outthink.io), a cybersecurity human risk management platform, recently completed a $10m raise in a seed stage funding round.

The company's technology intelligently identifies, understands and manages human risk by improving the attitudes and behaviours of employees and building risk-aware security cultures in modern enterprises. It has grown rapidly and is trusted by a growing number of large, complex organisations around the world including Whirlpool, Danske Bank, Rothschild, NatWest and other FTSE 100 brands.

The funding round was led by AlbionVC with participation from Forward Partners, TriplePoint Capital, Gapminder and Innovate UK. Forward invested over £0.5m into the round.

The company will use the funding to expand its leadership expertise and accelerate international distribution as its solution continues to gain market traction.

Makers

Makers (www.makers.tech), a market-leading platform for technology talent through courses and apprenticeships - often with a focus on reskilling for the expanding software development industry - recently completed a £7m raise. The company, which is run by Claudia Harris OBE, offers a wide variety of bootcamp and apprenticeship courses, opening up opportunities in technology for people who would not otherwise have had access to them and providing their clients with diverse talent across their tech teams.

The raise was led by BGF. Forward invested £0.5m and continues to hold a significant stake in the business.

The company will use the funding to transform more lives and more organisations by building out its product suite across additional tech verticals. Following the launch of its Devops course last year, these new products will include highly sought-after technical training in Testing and Data.

Nic Brisbourne, CEO at Forward Partners, commented: "We are pleased to update the market on these exciting, positive developments within our portfolio. These start-ups continue to solve acute problems for people and industries through visionary thinking, new technology and challenger mindsets. Many companies within our portfolio continue to grow, demonstrate strong fundamentals and significant potential. It's great to see validation of our convictions through these rounds led by great investors, particularly at a time when they are being more selective in their deployment of capital.

Despite the challenging macro-economic backdrop, we operate in a market with exciting long-term growth potential, and we remain excited about our portfolio companies' prospects for growth."

NOTES

Material from Forward's investor event

Presentation slides and a video recording of the Company's 'Meet Forward and the Portfolio' investor event, hosted on 23 November 2022 are available to view on the Company's Investor Centre: https://forwardpartners.com/investor-centre.

ENDS

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About Forward Partners

Founded in 2013, Forward Partners is an established and respected London-based venture capital firm, specialising in supporting high growth, early-stage technology businesses in the UK.

The Group brings together venture capital provider Forward Ventures and highly specialised growth support from Forward Studio. This model supports founders to build stronger businesses faster to provide better outcomes for companies and investors alike.

The Group makes equity investments in early-stage, high-growth UK companies, and from inception to its admission to London's AIM market in July 2021 had made over 60 unique investments and built a portfolio with an Initial Portfolio NAV in excess of £100m. It holds a nine-year track record of making venture capital investments, and targets underlying NAV growth of 20% per annum over the cycle.

The management team brings together highly experienced venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and expert consultants. Since 2015, Forward Partners has been backed by BlackRock, one of the largest institutional investors in the world. The Group receives over 4,000 start-up funding applications every year.

For more information, visit https://forwardpartners.com