Rotterdam, NetherlandsFounded 2023

About us

A returns problem worth solving.

Carl spent two years building and testing a model for peer-to-peer return forwarding. By 2023 the math was complete and the result was unambiguous. We founded the company that September, before peer review had concluded. Live at Kuyichi since 2025.

Origin

Where this started

It Goes Forward did not start with a business plan. It started with conviction.

Carl had spent two years building and testing a model for peer-to-peer return forwarding, working with researchers at VU Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam. By 2023 the math was complete and the result was unambiguous: the model worked. We founded the company in September of that year, before peer review wrapped up. Pepijn Stribos (tech) and Tim Stribos (commercial) joined as co-founders shortly after. The paper appeared in Omega 128 (Elsevier) the following year, confirming what the live operation would shortly demonstrate independently: up to 44% warehouse return reduction.

We started with validation. We built the product afterwards. Read the full research →

The It Goes Forward team in Rotterdam — The team in Rotterdam.

Our mission

Our mission is simple: make peer-to-peer return forwarding the default way Europe handles fashion returns.

Today, four in ten fashion items come back, and most of them make a pointless round-trip to a warehouse before being sold again. We think the returns process can be radically better for the retailer, the consumer, and the planet at the same time. Our goal: every European fashion return running on Forwarding by 2030.

How we got here

2021–2023

2021–2023
Research
Carl begins post-graduate research on peer-to-peer return logistics at JADS/TU Eindhoven/Tilburg University, with collaborators at VU Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam.

2023

Sept 2023
Paper submitted, company founded
The research is submitted to Omega (Elsevier) for peer review. Rather than wait for acceptance, Carl leaves consulting and founds It Goes Forward in September 2023. Pepijn Stribos and Tim Stribos join as co-founders.
Oct 2023
First research grant
MIT R&D subsidy received from Provincie Zuid-Holland.

2024

Oct 2024
Paper published
Eruguz, Van Heijst et al. is published in Omega 128 (Elsevier) after peer review, validating up to 44% warehouse return reduction: the thesis the company was already built on.
Oct 2024
Mastercard Strive EU
Winner of Mastercard Strive EU Innovation Fund 2024 (1 of 10 from 495 applicants).
Oct 2024
Google for Startups programme
Selected for Google for Startups Sustainable Development; €40K in Google Cloud credits.
Nov 2024
Bold Impact Award 2024
Recognised for sustainability-led innovation in e-commerce.

2025

Feb 2025
Kuyichi goes live
First live client. Kuyichi consumers see Forwarding as a return option for the first time.
2025
Studio Anneloes onboarding
Integration underway on BigCommerce + Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (TRIMIT Fashion).
2025
Oilily onboarding
Integration underway on Shopify + Returnless.
2025
ANWB go-live agreed
Tech approach agreed with one of the Netherlands' largest retail organisations.
Oct 2025
DHL NOW&NEXT Expo
Present at DHL's innovation expo in Austin, Texas.
Nov 2025
KVK Innovatie Top 100
Selected for the Dutch Chamber of Commerce's top 100 innovators list.

2026

Mar 2026
Won eBay's pitching contest
Selected in a competitive pitching contest at eBay. Pilot scoping with eBay now in progress; exact pilot shape TBD.

Our team

Today: 6 people in Rotterdam: three co-founders, two developers, and one sales agent. Growing.

Founders

Carl van Heijst

Co-founder & Sales lead

The person who started It Goes Forward. Published the underlying research on peer-to-peer return logistics with co-authors at VU Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam. Founded the company in September 2023 on the strength of the model, before peer review had concluded. Leads all commercial operations and client relationships at It Goes Forward. MSc. Supply Chain Management, RSM Erasmus University Rotterdam. Post-graduate Data Analytics, JADS/TU Eindhoven/Tilburg University.

Pepijn Stribos

Co-founder & Tech lead

Joined Carl in 2023 to turn the matching algorithm into a production platform. Autodidact full-stack developer since age fourteen. Multiple companies founded before It Goes Forward. Leads all product and engineering work at IGF, from the matching algorithm implementation to the integration plugins. Mentors our junior developers. MSc. Marketing, RSM Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Tim Stribos

Co-founder

Joined Carl and Pepijn in 2023 to bring e-commerce scale-up experience to the founding team. Former CTO at Dutch e-commerce marketplace Dwarfs, where the company raised €65 million during his tenure. At It Goes Forward, Tim contributes on technology strategy and commercial scale-up.

We're hiring!

Our team is growing fast and we're always looking for smart people.

View open roles

Advisory board

Our Advisory Board

Advisory board

Marijn Visser

Global Vertical Head Lifestyle, A.P. Moller - Maersk

24 years of experience in the Lifestyle industry. Deep insights and connections across reverse logistics as A.P. Moller - Maersk expands its capabilities in the space.

John Poppelaars

Founder, Doing The Math

Over 30 years of experience as applied mathematician. Supports us in the development of our algorithm. MSc. Econometrics, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Andrei Danilă

CEO, CODE932

CEO of CODE932, a software company based in Iași, Romania. Advises on software engineering practice and product delivery. Also founder of Grădinița de Manageri, a management-development programme.

LinkedIn →

Prof. Rommert Dekker

Professor of Operations Research, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Senior advisor on the algorithm.

Dr. Sena Ayse Eruguz

Assistant Professor, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Lead author of the underlying research.

Dr. Wilco van den Heuvel

Associate Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Co-author of the underlying research.

Dr. Oktay Karabag

Assistant Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Operations research, matching and resource allocation.

Eline Tetteroo

Medior Consultant, TNO

Applied operations research.

Peer-reviewed research

Research foundation

Our matching algorithm is not a feature we added to the product. It's the reason the product exists. The underlying research, co-authored by our co-founder Carl van Heijst with researchers at VU Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam, was submitted to Omega in 2023 and published in 2024. We founded the company between those two milestones, on the strength of the model rather than waiting for the citation. No other peer-to-peer returns vendor has published their algorithm. We also maintain OpenReturn, an open-source protocol for the full e-commerce return lifecycle, Apache 2.0 licensed.

Peer-reviewed publication

Omega, Elsevier · 2024

Eruguz et al., Omega 128, Elsevier, 2024

View on ScienceDirectDOI: 10.1016/j.omega.2024.103127

Co-authored with researchers at:

Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamErasmus University Rotterdam

Full research overview

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