Ecovadis expands its leadership in global supply chain sustainability ratings
EcoVadis, the leading platform for environmental, social and ethical performance ratings for global supply chains, servicing over 30,000 customers in 110 countries, has announced its first institutional funding led by Partech Ventures, the global VC firm operating from San Francisco, Paris and Berlin.
The company, which employs 320 professionals worldwide, has been growing organically by 50% annually since inception 10 years ago. Its ratings and scorecards are being used by 150+ of the world’s largest supply chains representing more than $1 trillion in annual procurement spend.
This minority investment is the first outside capital for EcoVadis since its founding in 2007. It will be used to accelerate worldwide adoption of EcoVadis’ supplier Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) ratings, to advance the reliability and value delivered in its ratings, and to further invest in core technologies of its platform, through in-house R&D and partnerships with best-of-breed tech start-ups.
“As a transatlantic investment fund, Partech is the ideal partner as we scale,” said Frederic Trinel, Co-CEO of EcoVadis. “Their team brings global expertise with a strong presence in the US, a deep understanding of tech and a passion for driving performance. This pivotal investment will empower our team to accelerate R&D and enhance our proprietary technology with the latest innovations in machine learning and natural language processing while broadening our expertise in CSR analysis to foster environmental, social and ethical performance improvement at a global scale.”
“Consumers, citizens and investors are all demanding that companies adopt and demonstrate sustainable practices to improve their environmental and social impact. EcoVadis makes that happen across global supply chains,” said Omri Benayoun, General Partner of Partech Ventures. “We are extremely proud to partner with Pierre-François and Frédéric. These outstanding entrepreneurs are defining the global standard for supplier sustainability ratings” adds Bruno Cremel, General Partner of Partech Ventures.
“Companies rely on EcoVadis to ensure resilience of supply chains but also drive change in sustainability, social and human rights practices”, said Pierre-Francois Thaler, co-CEO of EcoVadis. “We now want to step up the impact of our collaborative platform to drive more improvements in the future.”
“Within this decade, business leaders know they must make radical shifts to remain competitive in increasingly socially-sensitive markets -- and to address the formidable challenges facing our planet,” said John Elkington, Chairman of Volans, the U.K.-based global sustainability consulting firm, and EcoVadis advisory board member. “It’s exciting to see the EcoVadis ratings and platform going mainstream – with growing potential to become the preferred enabler of business and market transformation for the two million businesses operating in global supply chains.”
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