Lead by entrepreneurs known for establishing advantages through technology and scaling up via accretive M&A and organic growth

Our expertise

We have a decades-long track record of acquiring exceptional businesses and operating them effectively, delivering top-tier service to forge long-term customer relationships and sustaining a highly engaged workplace culture.

We invest equity capital in small- and medium-sized businesses that were especially identified for it’s with our vision and culture, with good profitability and strong market positions in growing markets.

Our decentralized governance structure empowers strong management teams and provides help and guidance when needed.

Charlie Gascon

Founder of Forward Partner. Charlie created this acquisition vehicle to fund his next entrepreneurial endeavour after noticing that many companies were not achieving their full potential. Eager to capture this opportunity, he built a company seeking to accomplish just that.

Charlie is a Canadian-born entrepreneur and career CEO with a track record in scaling multiple industrial software companies. To date, he has founded and led 3 multi-million-dollar companies across the globe. He was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company and the founding partner & CEO of Energy and Infra Solutions global businesses.

In his next endeavour, Charlie pulled together a tight-knit group of elite entrepreneurs and investors to acquire and scale privately owned companies, bringing capital, talent and operational skills to scale them into leading companies in their industry.

Our partnership model

Serial entrepreneurs & CEO’s

Rob Cherun

CEO of Stealth Monitoring where he led 2,000 employees across 4 countries. Under his leadership, the company grew at a 35% CAGR over his tenure to over $100 million in annual recurring revenue and 40+ offices and raised over $300 million of equity and debt. Rob has invested in over 50 companies as the Founder and Managing Partner at Legate Capital Partners
Jay Davis

Served as the CEO of Vector Disease Acquisition, a holding company that provides vector-borne disease prevention programs for municipalities and provides lake management services for various customers. Under Jay’s leadership, the company made 14 acquisitions and grew at a CAGR of 43%. Vector Disease Acquisition was acquired by Rentokil Initial (FTSE: RTO) in November 2017.
Noah Riner

Partner at SFP and ex-CEO of NeuroInternational Healthcare, and grew from 93 to 550 employees. They provide specialty rehabilitation services to people with brain injuries and developmental disabilities. He sold the company to invest in entrepreneurs. He currently serves on the boards of Bio-Behavioral Institute, Apollo Behavioral Health, Pelvic Health Solutions, Roll-A-Shield, and Big Box Storage.
Alexander Schuil

He is a Founder and serves as Managing Partner at Novidam Capital Partners. Prior to that served as Chief Executive Officer at Briscoe Protective. He serves as an Advisor at Verdocs. Mr. Schuil served as Chief Executive Officer at World Wide Security. He also serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Vision Monitoring Services. He also serves as a Board Member at BWS Standfast.
Brad Brown

Managing director of Applied Equity and prior a Senior Partner Emeritus of McKinsey & Company leading their Technology practice, and the global leader of the Big Data practice. For thirty years, he worked with senior executives to implement strategies around technology, SaaS, cloud, and AI. He also worked in Fintech and InsurTech. He is on the board of Blue Sky Network, ISI, Attainia, CarData, and Bridge Software.

Long-term Investors

Will Thorndike

Founder of Housatonic Partners a leading private equity firm with offices in Boston and San Francisco known for exceptionally long holding periods. Will is the Chairman of two public companies: CNX Resources and Perimeter Solutions and a Director of several private companies including QMC Telecom, Banyan Software and Carillon Assisted Living. He also authored the book The Outsiders: Eight unconventional CEO’s
Richard Venn

Chairman and CEO of CIBC’s Investment Bank. Richard created and led the Merchant Banking business at CIBC and then continued to Chair the Investment Committee of CIBC for almost two decades. He has been investing in private companies throughout his 45-year business career.
Kent Weaver

CEO and Managing Member of Granite Point. Kent has invested in over 75 middle-market companies as an individual investor and with Granite Point. Kent has partnered with entrepreneurs to build successful businesses and is the Executive Chairman and former CEO at a Northern California-based home health care company.
Mitch Cohen

Chairman of Trilogy Equity Partners and was a Managing Director of Hellman & Friedman, the global private equity firm. In his role at H&F, he sourced new investments and oversaw portfolio companies, while sitting on numerous company boards. In addition, he oversaw the firm’s fundraising and client relations. Mitch worked closely with other Trilogy partners while representing H&F on the boards of Western Wireless and VoiceStream.
Kevin Oxendine

Partner at Pacific Lake Partners a $1B AUM Fund. Prior to that was a two-time successful CEO/COO. Over his three years at Wistia, a video SaaS company, Kevin led the company to grow from $8M to over $30M in ARR. At Havit, a consulting firm, Kevin grew the firm from $6M to $36M in capitalized billings over three years.