IntegrityNext, a startup on a mission to make supply chains more sustainable with better ESG compliance and oversight, has just secured a massive €100 million in new investment. The Munich-based team now plans to scale across Europe.
ESG compliance is a hot topic. Businesses across verticals and geographies are increasingly under pressure to report on their ESG strategy, carbon footprint, and, to become more sustainable. It’s something we need to ensure happens for the health of our planet, society and economy, and it’s changing the face of business.
Becoming ESG complaint isn’t a simple task. It requires strategy reimagination and embedding ESG throughout the company. For many businesses, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. At the same time, with the rise of ESG and sustainability as buzzwords within the entrepreneurial space, there has been a growing prevalence of greenwashing. More transparency over ESG efforts is desperately needed.
Tasked with overcoming these challenges is IntegrityNext, a startup that has developed a sustainability software platform, dedicated to making supply chains more transparent and compliant.
Today, the Munich-based team has secured €100 million to fuel the next stage of its development. The investment was led by EQT Growth. Previously, the company had been bootstrapped and this marks its first outside investment.
Martin Berr-Sorokin, CEO and co-founder of IntegrityNext: “The critical importance of ESG is not a new concept to modern businesses. However, as a raft of regulatory frameworks – like Germany’s LkSG or the EU’s CSRD – begin to take effect, supply chain transparency and sustainability is evolving from a nice-to-have to a must-have. As more clients entrust us and we embark on our next stage of growth, we’re excited to be partnering with an experienced and hands-on investor with European roots and global scale like EQT Growth.”
Founded in 2016 by Martin Berr-Sorokin (CEO), Simon Jaehnig (CRO) and Nick Heine (COO), IntegrityNext offers a cloud-based platform that empowers businesses to meet regulatory ESG requirements, manage ESG risks and improve supply chain sustainability.
Across Europe, the demand for sustainability supply chain software solutions is growing as more and more regulations and reporting frameworks emerge. Current regulatory frameworks include the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (“LkSG”), the EU’s Green Deal and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (“CSRD”). Pretty soon, every business will have to report on ESG measures – it’s now a de facto ‘license to operate’ to be compliant.
As a result, the market for ESG tracking software is growing by more than 50% annually.
IntegrityNext’s solution enables enterprises to assess risk and monitor a large portion of their supply chain for ESG metrics and compliance, allowing them to meet stakeholder demands, societal demands and regulatory requirements.
So far, the company has partnered and integrated with different software tools such as Celonis, Coupa and SAP, allowing it to offer supply chain assessments across numerous major industries. Currently serving more than 200 customers and monitoring almost one million suppliers, it counts enterprises such as Siemens Gamesa, Infineon, SwissRe, Kion and Hilti as existing clients.
Bootstrapped until this impressive investment, IntgrityNext is tapping into a growing market and clearly has developed an attractive, and impactful, product. With this new funding, the innovators plan to embark on the next phase of growth. The company will consolidate its position within the German market whilst expanding the product to serve upcoming European regulations.
Dominik Stein, Partner in the EQT Growth Investment advisory team: “IntegrityNext’s technology provides a streamlined and automated way for customers to easily monitor and certify their supply chain for ESG risks. Their cutting-edge product and large footprint in their home market of Germany positions them well to expand across Europe, as they have already built a significant proprietary supplier database. We look forward to working with Martin and the entire IntegrityNext team as they accelerate on their journey to making supply chains more transparent.”
