Forward

Forward (f.k.a. Forward Networks) builds a network digital twin: a continuously updated, mathematically modeled replica of an organization’s entire network — physical, virtual, and cloud — built by collecting configuration and state data from routers, switches, firewalls, and cloud constructs. Rather than passively monitoring traffic, the platform uses formal mathematical modeling to let network and security teams query “what if” scenarios and get a deterministic answer about how a proposed change, firewall rule, or new connection would actually behave, before it’s pushed to production.

Founded in 2013 by four Stanford PhD graduates and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Forward Networks has raised roughly $116 million in total funding, including a $50 million Series D in January 2023 led by MSD Partners with participation from Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Andreessen Horowitz, reporting 139% year-over-year growth at the time. Its customer base includes Fortune 500 enterprises and government agencies, and the product has won more than 20 industry awards along with a 4.7-out-of-5 rating across 33 Gartner Peer Insights reviews.

The core differentiator is the shift from probabilistic network monitoring to deterministic, math-based verification — competitors typically infer network behavior from sampled telemetry, while Forward computes exact reachability and policy outcomes from the full device configuration state, which matters directly for security teams trying to prove a segmentation policy or firewall change actually does what it’s supposed to before an incident happens rather than after.