Forward Lease

What Forward Lease does

Forward Lease B.V. is a privately held Dutch multi-brand vehicle leasing company headquartered at Conradstraat 14, Schiedam, founded in 2014 and operating with a small team of 1–10 employees. The company offers a full portfolio of leasing products — operational lease, financial/Netto Operational lease, short lease, private lease, sale-and-leaseback, electric vehicle lease, commercial vehicle lease, and fietslease (bicycle lease) — serving three customer segments: business fleet customers, ZZP/self-employed professionals, and private individuals. Forward Lease also resells a Mobility Budget product and bundles home EV charging station services through a partnership with Grow Green Energy. Pricing is quote-based with entry-level operational leases starting at €299/month (Dacia Spring EV) and €389/month (Renault Twingo EV), with bundled services such as maintenance, insurance, road tax, and roadside assistance on operational lease contracts.

The company's technology is a traditional web-based stack centered on an online car configurator, quote request forms, and a Bijtelling (Dutch benefit-in-kind tax) Calculator, supported by dealer-network service delivery through its Zeeuw & Zeeuw partnership. Fleet and contract administration is outsourced to Mobility Control B.V., and credit checks are run via EDR Credit Services B.V. There is no proprietary AI, model, or data-asset layer disclosed. Go-to-market combines a direct website funnel with inside-sales account managers (Cas Westerwoudt, Peter de Hoog, Maurice van Hagen, Hülya Erdogan) handling personalized advisory and contract closing, supplemented by dealer referrals and organic social channels (LinkedIn, Facebook).

Forward Lease generates revenue entirely through recurring monthly lease payments across subscription-style contracts, with operational lease producing the highest-margin bundled offering and financial/short lease and sale-and-leaseback providing complementary structures. The business model is capital-intensive in nature — Forward Lease retains ownership of vehicles on operational lease contracts — but operates with minimal disclosed institutional backing, no disclosed funding rounds, and a closely-held ownership structure, indicating the company is funded through retained earnings and likely bank/asset-financing facilities rather than venture or private equity capital.

Name

Forward Lease

Legal name

Forward Lease B.V.

Website

https://forwardlease.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Forward Lease B.V. is a Dutch multi-brand vehicle leasing company based in Schiedam, offering operational, financial, short, private, EV, and bicycle lease products to businesses, self-employed professionals, and private individuals across the Netherlands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Vehicle Leasing Services

NAICS

Automotive Equipment Rental and Leasing (5321), Passenger Car Leasing (532112), Passenger Car Rental (532111)

SIC

Services-Auto Rental & Leasing (No Drivers) (7510), Finance Lessors (6172)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate/Enterprise Car Leasing (Closed-End/Open-End) (TLABAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Consumer/Private Lease & Subscription (Personal Contract Hire) (TLABAAAC), Vehicle Subscription Services (All-Inclusive, Flexible Term) (TLABAAAE), Leasing & Lease Buyout Financing (FSAKADAC), Commercial / Business Vehicle Subscriptions (Vans, Light Trucks) (THADACAI)

Keywords

• Operational vehicle leasing
• Financial lease services
• Business fleet leasing
• Private car leasing
• Electric vehicle leasing

Headquarters

HQ city

Barendrecht

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Operational Lease: Monthly recurring lease payments for vehicles where Forward Lease retains ownership. Payments include maintenance, insurance, road tax, and roadside assistance bundled into a single monthly fee. Customer pays only for charging electricity.
2. Financial Lease / Netto Operational Lease: Financing solution where customer becomes legal owner after lease term. Customer handles own maintenance, insurance, and road tax. Monthly payments cover only depreciation and interest costs.
3. Short Lease: Flexible short-term rental from 3 months minimum with monthly cancellation option. Includes full operational services but for limited duration.
4. Sale and Leaseback: Forward Lease purchases customer's existing vehicle and leases it back. Provides liquidity and balance sheet optimization for business customers.
5. Private Lease: Personal leasing for individuals where no company car taxation applies. No fringe benefit tax (bijtelling) for private use.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Forward Lease provides multi-brand vehicle leasing solutions in the Netherlands, offering operational lease (with bundled maintenance, insurance, road tax, and roadside assistance), financial lease with purchase obligation, short-term lease (minimum 3 months), sale and leaseback, private lease for individuals, and specialized leasing for electric vehicles, commercial vehicles, bicycles, and self-employed professionals. Customers pay fixed monthly subscription fees and receive dedicated account manager support from vehicle selection through contract completion.

Product overview

Forward Lease is a Dutch car leasing company offering a comprehensive portfolio of mobility solutions for both business and private customers. The core offerings consist of Operational Lease (including maintenance, insurance, and breakdown assistance with the vehicle off-balance sheet), Financial/Netto Operational Lease (with purchase obligation, vehicle on balance sheet), and Short Lease (flexible 3-month minimum contracts). Additional services include Sale and Leaseback for businesses, Private Lease for individuals, Electric Car Lease with favorable tax treatment, Commercial Vehicle Lease, Bicycle Lease, Home Charging Station solutions, and specialized leasing for self-employed professionals. The company also provides supporting tools such as a Bijtelling Calculator for tax calculations. Forward Lease positions itself on personalized service with a 'one-stop-shop' principle, leveraging partnerships with dealer networks for maintenance and service.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Customer satisfaction rating of 9.7/10

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Zeeuw & ZeeuwcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMulti-brand automotive dealer network serving as both channel partner and service provider. Handles vehicle delivery and maintenance for Forward Lease customers. Partners include Z-energy, Z-signing, and Z-rent subsidiaries. Customers can use Zeeuw & Zeeuw locations for all service needs including online workshop appointments.
• Grow Green EnergycoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerMerchants-independent specialist for EV charging solutions. Provides home charging station installation services for Forward Lease electric vehicle customers. Also offers leasing option for charging hardware. Handles customer intake, site assessment, and installation through regional contractors.
• EDR Credit Services B.V.minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCredit information services provider used during customer acceptance process for creditworthiness assessment of business customers. Processes credit checks and negative remarks regarding company leadership.
• Mobility Control B.V.minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerContract and fleet management services provider collaborating on ongoing lease administration, accounting, invoice calculation, and customer contact management.
• treebytreeminorOthersSustainability partner (logo displayed) - potentially related to carbon offset or environmental initiatives for sustainable mobility services.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Athlon: Rabobank-owned Dutch multi-brand vehicle leasing and fleet management company; competes head-to-head in operational leasing, financial leasing, and short-term rentals for Dutch businesses and ZZP'ers, overlapping nearly the entire Forward Lease product set at much greater scale.
• Ayvens: Global mobility provider formed from the 2023 ALD Automotive / LeasePlan merger; operates one of Europe's largest multi-brand operational lease and fleet management platforms directly comparable to Forward Lease's operational-lease core across the same Dutch SMB and enterprise segments.
• Alphabet Nederland: BMW Group's multi-brand leasing and fleet management arm; offers operational leasing, financial leasing, and fleet services in the Netherlands with the same lease product taxonomy (operational / financial / short lease) as Forward Lease, targeting overlapping corporate and SME customers.
• Volkswagen Financial Services (Pon / VWFS): Dutch arm of VW Financial Services providing private and operational leasing, financing, and insurance for VW Group vehicles; directly comparable private-lease product and overlapping bijtelling-sensitive customer base.

Direct peers

• DirectLease.nl: Dutch online multi-brand operational lease broker serving businesses and private individuals; very similar product-led, online quote-driven model to Forward Lease, often cited as a direct SMB / private-lease competitor in the Netherlands.
• JustLease (Volvo Cars): Volvo's Dutch private and business lease subscription offering; competes with Forward Lease for the private / bijelling-sensitive customer with a fully digital, fixed-monthly subscription product built around a single OEM.
• Van Mossel Leasing: Dutch dealer-affiliated leasing arm of the large Van Mossel mobility group; offers operational, financial, and short leasing tied to its dealer network — directly analogous to Forward Lease's dealer-network partnership model (Zeeuw & Zeeuw) for SMB fleet customers.
• Tesla Lease (Tesla Financial Services): Tesla's captive lease product in the Netherlands for Model 3 / Y / S / X; competes in the same EV-private-lease niche that Forward Lease markets aggressively via its electric-car and bijtelling content verticals.

Emerging players

• MyWheels: Dutch car-sharing and subscription platform that competes at the flexible, short-term mobility end of the market where Forward Lease's short-lease product operates, often partnering with employers and mobility budgets.

Others

• Leasefiets.nl / Hellorider: Technology partner already visible on Forward Lease's website (hellorider logo); Dutch fietslease platforms enabling employer-funded bicycle leasing, directly comparable to Forward Lease's fietslease product line.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights9 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/forwardlease
• Facebookfacebook.com/ForwardLease
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/forward-lease

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Lease