Welcome to FWD

FWD’s strategy

FWD provides technology solutions, primarily to clients in the corporate energy management sector. The company delivers consulting and professional services, specialized programming, training, and technical support. As a value-added reseller of business application software, FWD offers solutions for bill management, energy procurement, AI-driven energy analytics, load switching/aggregation/demand response, sustainability reporting, and other applications. Additionally, FWD develops and publishes its own proprietary software.

FWD plans to become a tech-forward leader in the $30 billion retail energy brokerage industry, with the goal of generating outsized shareholder value. The company is targeting hundreds of millions of dollars of annual revenue in the next decade through accretive acquisitions and organic growth.

The retail energy brokerage industry’s nascent use of technology, particularly AI-enabled procurement and data-driven insights, represents a compelling opportunity for FWD as a tech-focused entrant. FWD’s combination of scale and innovation should elevate the customer experience, increase brokerage effectiveness and enable margin expansion.

According to industry data, technology-driven retail energy transactions represent only a single- to mid-single-digit percentage of the total procurement volume. This share is expected to grow significantly by 2030. Technology can further transform brokerage operations via dynamic pricing optimization, demand forecasting, automated contract management, robust supply chain visibility and end-to-end digital customer connectivity. FWD’s strategy anticipates that these drivers, among others, will be central to the company’s goal of outsized shareholder value creation.

The retail energy brokerage industry highlights

The building products distribution industry is highly fragmented, with approximately 4,000 brokers in North America and 3,000 in Europe and Asia, according to industry observers. Brokers in this sector offer value-added energy procurement solutions, expert guidance on energy management and emerging sustainability applications, and customized contracts to corporate and industrial clients. These services are utilized for cost containment, risk mitigation, and compliance in various industries.

The industry has achieved a compound annual revenue growth rate of 7% over the last five years, driven by powerful secular growth trends. Various industry research show that the U.S. power supply currently falls 1–5 TWh short of demand, and day-ahead/real-time price volatility could rise by 50% to 100% compared to historical norms. These factors create long-term tailwinds for meeting new load through affordable, resilient power sources while also heightening demand for skilled brokers who can navigate complex markets and customize solutions. Multiple industrial and commercial sectors are expected to drive sustained growth as America’s public transportation, utility, industrial, and manufacturing infrastructure continues to electrify, digitize, and reshore.

These market dynamics offer a significant opportunity to unlock FWD’s growth potential through scale and technology. National brokers can serve large customers across multiple geographies and project types with standardized efficiencies, providing consistent, data-driven services across a broad operating scope. Additionally, a scaled technology ecosystem can expand the array of value-added services offered to brokers and their customers, such as real-time usage analytics, digital contract negotiation, AI-enhanced sustainability reporting, and integrated solutions for onsite and offsite procurement.

Leadership

FWD’s founder and CEO, Charlie Gascon, is a Canadian-born entrepreneur, Y-Combinator alum, and career CEO who has built and scaled multiple energy software companies across continents. Before founding FWD, he served as an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, advising utilities and wholesale power trading desks on operational excellence and commercial growth strategies. He is also the founder of Energy Solutions, a global business of over 200 employees that partnered with hundreds of McKinsey and Senior Partners to sell energy software to their clients.

Backing Charlie is a network of world-class leaders who’ve collectively grown many billion-dollar ventures, invested billions of dollars, led global expansions, served on major private and public boards, and executed hundreds of acquisitions. This bench includes Rob Cherun (scaled to $100M ARR, sold to Garda), Jay Davis (14 acquisitions, 43% CAGR, sold to Rentokil), Noah Riner (scaled NeuroInternational from 93 to 550 employees), Alexander Schuil (30+ acquisitions in security services sold to public competitor), Kevin Knoepp (CTO at Chef and AnswerDash), Will Thorndike (chairman of CNX Resources, author of The Outsiders), Richard Venn (Chairman/CEO of CIBC Merchant Banking), Brad Brown (McKinsey AI/SaaS Senior Partner), and many more.

Collectively, the ventures they built had a track record of attracting world-class talent, establishing advantages through technology, and scaling up through accretive M&A and organic growth. Charlie and his teams have completed numerous acquisitions throughout their careers, forging strong customer and team relationships to deliver industry-leading returns to shareholders.

This decades-long track record should position FWD to acquire exceptional brokerage businesses, integrate them effectively, deliver top-tier service to forge long-term customer relationships, maintain a highly engaged workplace culture, improve margins and generate high returns on capital. FWD’s leadership bench also includes a roster of seasoned operators, private equity investors, technologists and board members who collectively have invested billions of dollars, led global expansions, and executed hundreds of transactions across diverse industries—providing FWD with a robust foundation for growth.