Forward·Inc

What Forward·Inc does

Forward·Inc, legally registered as Stichting Refugees Forward, is an Amsterdam-based non-profit foundation (Dutch ANBI status) that supports forcibly displaced individuals, asylum seekers, and newcomers from non-OECD countries in building businesses in the Netherlands. Its core offering is a five-tier program stack — Digital Entrepreneurship Program (DEP), Forward Incubator, Growth Program, Investor Readiness Program, and Business & Start-up Booster — that takes participants from concept development through pitch readiness, marketing execution, and scaling. Delivery is mentorship- and network-led rather than technology-led: participants receive coaching from business coaches and mentors, support from student consultants recruited through partner universities (VU Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam, Erasmus University Rotterdam), and access to a network of experts and investors. The organization runs an annual Demo Day showcase and publishes an Impact Report series dating to 2018.

The foundation does not operate proprietary technology; its assets are the program curriculum, the alumni community (showcased startups include Uprent, Jemlie's, Subul Impact Outsourcing, Amphi Botanicals, and BeerCrackers), and partnerships with corporate donors (Google, Heineken, ABN AMRO, Coca-Cola), professional service firms (DLA Piper, Mazars), Dutch philanthropy funds (Oranje Fonds, VSBfonds, Donateurs- en Vriendenloterij), and the European Union. Programs are delivered free of charge to qualifying participants; an Arabic-language track on the Business & Start-up Booster indicates localization for specific newcomer populations.

Forward·Inc is governed by an unpaid four-person board (Marina van Notten, Chair; Ernst Peter Hovinga, Treasurer; Marieke Ridder; Masmoud Banbersta) and is operationally based in Amsterdam with a secondary Rotterdam office hosted at CIC. It is currently pursuing CBF Category C charity certification, a regulatory process that places it in the €0.5M–€2M annual income band and signals intent to access larger institutional funders. Revenue is philanthropic and grant-based — corporate donations, individual contributions, Dutch foundation grants, and EU co-funding — with no disclosed program fees or commercial product revenue.

Name

Forward·Inc

Legal name

Stichting Refugees Forward

Website

https://newcomersforward.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Forward·Inc (Stichting Refugees Forward) is an Amsterdam-based Dutch ANBI non-profit that runs a five-tier entrepreneurship support program stack — from concept development to investor readiness — free of charge for forcibly displaced individuals, asylum seekers, and newcomers from non-OECD countries, funded by corporate donors, Dutch foundations, and the European Union.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Refugee Entrepreneurship Support

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

akta.pro primary industry

Refugee & Migrant Integration Enterprises (Livelihoods, Services) (BPAGALAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Refugee & Immigrant Support Services (BPAGAEAI), Integration & Inclusion Services (Housing, Education, Employment) (BPADAHAI)

Keywords

• Refugee entrepreneurship
• Nonprofit incubation programs
• Migrant business support
• Social impact foundation
• Newcomer startup training

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Forward·Inc operates as a Public Benefit Charity (ANBI) funded by corporate donations, individual contributions, government grants, and EU funding. Programs are offered free of charge to qualifying participants (forcibly displaced individuals, asylum seekers, newcomers from non-OECD countries). Revenue comes from philanthropic and institutional funding rather than product/service sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Forward·Inc (Stichting Refugees Forward) is an ANBI-registered Dutch nonprofit foundation that delivers free entrepreneurship programs to forcibly displaced individuals, asylum seekers, and newcomers from non-OECD countries in the Netherlands. Its portfolio includes the Digital Entrepreneurship Program (DEP), Forward Incubator, Growth Program, Investor Readiness Program, and Business & Start-up Booster, delivered in Amsterdam and Rotterdam through workshops, mentorship, and corporate partnerships.

Product overview

Forward·Inc is an Amsterdam-based organization that operates as an entrepreneurship support and incubation program rather than a technology product company. Its offering consists of five structured programs designed to support newcomers at different stages of entrepreneurship: the Digital Entrepreneurship Program (DEP) for beginners with business ideas, the Forward Incubator (FI) for early-stage entrepreneurs testing and validating concepts, the Growth Program for businesses seeking to scale, the Investor Readiness Program for entrepreneurs preparing to attract investment, and the Business & Start-up Booster for additional support. These programs provide mentorship, coaching, student consultants, and network access rather than a software product or platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Entrepreneurship Program (DEP)
• Forward Incubator
• Growth Program
• Investor Readiness Program
• Business & Start-up Booster

Quantifiable outcome

• Programs assist aspiring entrepreneurs through concept development, pitch readiness, marketing strategy implementation, and business scaling

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Orange CornerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for alumni accelerator programming. Forward·Inc alumni can access Orange Corners Demo Day and Investor DealRoom for further investment opportunities. 8 Orange Corners alumni pitched at recent Demo Day events with over 250 global attendees.
• GoogleminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate partner with logo displayed on website partners section. Also involved in Palestine Launchpad with Google initiative.
• IFFR (International Film Festival Rotterdam)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMedia Outreach & Inclusion Scheme partnership for opportunities for newcomers in film/media.
• CIC (Campbell Irvine)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRotterdam office location hosted at CIC (Stationsplein 45), suggesting partnership for workspace provision.
• VU (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner with logo displayed; university connections for student involvement and research.
• UVA (University of Amsterdam)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner with logo displayed; student consultant recruitment source.
• Erasmus University RotterdamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner with logo displayed; student recruitment and potential research collaboration.
• DLA PiperminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLegal services partner with logo displayed; likely provides pro bono legal support to participants.
• MazarsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerAccounting/audit partner with logo displayed; likely provides pro bono financial advisory.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Acumen: Global nonprofit that uses entrepreneurial approaches to tackle poverty, including programs that back social enterprises in emerging contexts. Comparable to Forward·Inc in its model of combining capital, capacity-building, and networks to support impact-driven entrepreneurs, though at significantly larger scale and broader geography.
• Ashoka: Global organization supporting leading social entrepreneurs through fellowships, networks, and convenings. Comparable to Forward·Inc in its mission of backing social entrepreneurs and building cross-sector networks, though Ashoka operates at a much larger scale and broader thematic scope.
• Tent Foundation: Global nonprofit that mobilizes business leadership to support refugees through employment, entrepreneurship, and innovation programs. Comparable to Forward·Inc because it focuses on economic self-reliance pathways for forcibly displaced people, but operates at a larger, corporate-coalition scale across multiple geographies.

Others

• Refugees Welcome: European network focused on refugee housing and integration initiatives. Adjacent peer to Forward·Inc because both operate in the refugee integration space in Europe and engage volunteer/community networks, but Refugees Welcome is housing-led rather than entrepreneurship-led.

Direct peers

• Impact Hub: Global network of entrepreneurship hubs supporting impact-driven startups, including those led by underrepresented founders. Comparable to Forward·Inc through its incubator/accelerator programming, community-led model, and presence in the Netherlands (Impact Hub Amsterdam), although its mission is broader than refugee entrepreneurship.
• Village Capital: Impact-focused accelerator that supports early-stage entrepreneurs solving social and environmental problems. Comparable to Forward·Inc in its cohort-based, mentor-driven program design and its focus on under-resourced founders preparing for investment readiness.
• Talent Beyond Boundaries: Nonprofit that builds pathways for refugees to access employment and entrepreneurship opportunities internationally. Comparable to Forward·Inc in targeting forcibly displaced individuals with economic self-reliance programming, although Talent Beyond Boundaries emphasizes global talent mobility rather than domestic incubation.
• Orange Corners: Dutch-founded global initiative that runs incubation and accelerator programs for refugee and migrant entrepreneurs in multiple countries. It is both a direct competitor for participants and an active partner (alumni accelerator pipeline) for Forward·Inc, operating the same target audience with overlapping program design.
• Unreasonable: Runs accelerator programs and curated networks pairing social entrepreneurs with capital, mentorship, and corporate partners. Comparable to Forward·Inc because of its entrepreneur-support model, reliance on corporate partnerships (e.g., Barclays, Cisco), and emphasis on scaling ventures tackling systemic challenges.

Regional players

• Social Enterprise NL: Dutch sector network representing and supporting social enterprises in the Netherlands. Comparable to Forward·Inc as a domestic, regionally focused ecosystem builder for impact-driven entrepreneurship, though it serves enterprises rather than a specifically refugee-defined founder cohort.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/forwardinc
• Facebookfacebook.com/forwardinc.global
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/forwardincglobal

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Forward·Inc