Companies are increasingly shifting to responsible sourcing policies. This is due to multi-stakeholder pressures from consumers, investors, NGO’s, and employees, as well as a growing awareness that active management of social and environmental issues in supply chains can decrease risk and create new opportunities.

Deloitte estimates the market for responsible supply chain tools will reach $2.7 billion over the next five years. However, 65% of procurement leaders say they have limited or no visibility beyond their tier 1 (direct) suppliers. Information they do have is often siloed in legacy systems or in unwieldy spreadsheets. Buyers need a system that supports multi-tier networks, provides superior data management and visibility through transparent reporting, benchmarks supplier performance, and facilitates engagement so that suppliers follow-through and act to make business improvements.

Solution

SupplyShift is a supply chain ESG (environmental-social-governance) data management platform enabling customers to trace, assess and manage impacts in their supply chains. It helps buyers efficiently and securely gather and analyze data about supplier performance to any level in their supply chain. SupplyShift’s platform streamlines the process of engaging the supply chain, giving buyers an end-to-end view of supplier sustainability performance. Through its focus on collaboration and shared value, the technology helps buyers and their suppliers make the fundamental shift from simple data management and reporting to active supply chain improvement. It delivers insights that enable buyers to elevate sustainability as a factor of purchasing, risk management, and overall business resilience. The SupplyShift platform makes it seamless to gain the insight needed for a more responsive, responsible, and productive supplier network.

Why We Invested

We believe that SupplyShift’s platform will enable buyers to proactively engage, understand, and improve supplier ESG performance, in turn creating a virtuous cycle that will drive sustainability throughout global supply chains. SupplyShift has demonstrated the ability to sell to large buyers, like Walmart and The Sustainability Consortium. The team also has deep subject matter expertise; the co-founders Alex Gershenson and Jamie Barsimantov both have PhD’s in Environmental Studies and have over 12 years of professional experience in the space as the co-founders of EcoShift, an environmental and sustainability focused consulting company.

Impact

Responsible sourcing plays a key role in ensuring the long-term sustainability of businesses. Global production and use of food and consumer goods accounts for more than 80% of water usage and 67% of tropical forest loss globally, and more than 75% of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with many industry sectors come from their supply chains. An EY survey of UN Global Compact participants ranked supply chain practices as the biggest challenge to improving their sustainability performance. In order for companies to address environmental and social issues such as deforestation, human rights, and animal welfare, they must know where their inputs come from and how they are produced. SupplyShift has an opportunity to shift the level of transparency and engagement industry-wide.

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