[email protected]+49 (0) 5221 1411690

Ten years of IT systems and software from one hand

ForePath is the brand of IPvX UG (haftungsbeschränkt) in Herford. Since 2016 we have planned, built, and operated technology for businesses that need it to work every day.

2016

the year it all started

From a one-person business to ForePath

ForePath started in June 2016 with a simple idea. IT systems and software development from one hand, delivered by people who also run what they build. That combination has not changed since.

In 2022 the business became a limited company. A year later we co-founded a cloud start-up, and since 2025 we have shipped products of our own. Every one of these steps taught us something, and all of it flows back into the services we offer today.

Our milestones

Our story so far

Ten years, two legal forms, one start-up, and a growing family of products. These are the moments that shaped how we work.

  1. Founded as a sole proprietorship

    IT systems and software development from the very first day, for clients who wanted one partner for both.

  2. Re-formed as IPvX UG (haftungsbeschränkt)

    A limited company as the foundation for longer engagements and growth, with the same services and the same people behind them.

  3. Co-founded VMMX Cloud GmbH

    Together with the hosting provider dataforest GmbH, we founded VMMX to make scalable app hosting on Kubernetes simple for European companies, with one-click deployments from a data centre in Frankfurt.

  4. VMMX wins at garage33

    VMMX went through the garage33 incubator in Paderborn and came out on top. The program sharpened our product thinking and showed us what young companies need from their infrastructure.

  5. OBMS and Kublade released as open source

    We published two of our tools under the Apache 2.0 licence. OBMS is an ERP system for digital business models, and Kublade is a templating engine for Kubernetes deployments.

    github.com/forepath

  6. Agenstra released

    Our first product: a platform to run and ship with coding agents on infrastructure you control, built in the open.

    agenstra.com

  7. Decabill released

    OBMS and Kublade grow together into Decabill, our billing platform for services and SaaS, from cloud usage and projects to invoices and DATEV exports.

    decabill.com

  8. Full focus on ForePath

    Today ForePath has our full attention, with AI at the centre, while our VMMX partners return to their own core business. It was a great time. However, we collectively decided not to continue VMMX. In its place, you can look forward to something great from ForePath, built on everything VMMX taught us.

  9. Coming soon

    Loadweaver

    Our next product turns a handful of servers into a resilient multi-site cluster. It gives applications built with AI, and the agents behind them, a protected home on infrastructure you control, with encrypted traffic between sites and services that keep running when a location goes down.

    loadweaver.com

From hands-on to AI native

We did not jump on AI overnight. We grew into it one layer at a time, and kept what made the work good in the first place.

  1. 2016

    Hands-on

    Every server, every script, every ticket by hand. We learned systems from the inside, the way only manual work teaches.

  2. 2023

    Automated

    Running Kubernetes platforms at VMMX made automation the default. Infrastructure as code, pipelines, and monitoring took over the repetitive work.

  3. 2025

    AI native

    Coding agents work in our delivery through Agenstra, and our instant quote runs a language model right in your browser. An engineer still reviews every change.

What has stayed the same since day one

  • One partner for systems and software
  • People decide, machines assist
  • We run what we build, on open standards
  • Close to our clients in Ostwestfalen-Lippe
Portrait of Marcel Menk, founder and CEO of ForePath
Marcel MenkFounder and CEO

Led by its founder

Marcel Menk founded the company in 2016 and has led it ever since: through the step to a limited company, as managing director of VMMX Cloud GmbH, and through the launch of Agenstra and Decabill.

His focus is the point where infrastructure and software meet. That is where most projects either succeed or stall, and where ForePath does its best work.

Marcel Menk on LinkedIn

Let us write the next chapter together

Whether you need advice, software, or someone to run your systems, tell us where you are today. We will propose a practical path and the people to walk it with you.