In this episode of Breakthrough Labs, BeyondNetZero Managing Director Rhea Hamilton speaks with Frédéric Trinel, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of EcoVadis, the global provider of business sustainability ratings, intelligence, and collaborative performance tools servicing more than 130,000 companies across the globe. They discuss Frédéric’s long history as an entrepreneur, with EcoVadis marking his fifth business endeavor; deciding to start the Company in 2007 at a time when not many people were focused on sustainability; meeting his co-founder Pierre-Francois Thaler 32 years ago while working in Asia; identifying a need for sustainability ratings within supplier networks; his focus on profitability and decision to forgo outside capital until 10 years into the Company’s journey; the importance of managing data quality as a SaaS company and leveraging AI to achieve this; overcoming significant challenges when entering the US market, especially around hiring talent; establishing the Company around its core ratings product and evolving its suite of product offerings to meet customer demand; building upon EcoVadis’ proprietary ratings methodology to address new global sustainability regulations; the significant growth the Company experienced during the Covid pandemic; focuses for future growth, including beginning work with directly with banks on sustainable finance products like sustainability-linked loans; findings from an EcoVadis-led study demonstrating a correlation between a company’s financial performance and sustainability performance; and the benefits of having a co-founder and how he and Pierre-Francois have worked together as co-CEOs for nearly two decades.

Key Takeaways – “In this episode”

• Frédéric discusses his experience as an entrepreneur, founding four companies before he started EcoVadis, and the lessons learned that he continues to apply today.

• EcoVadis’ role as a supplier of sustainability ratings at scale and how Frédéric and Pierre-Francois identified the market opening as an early mover in the space.

• Frédéric outlines the opportunities and challenges that come with building an international company out of Europe with global talent, and how he navigated headwinds when entering new markets, including the US.

• EcoVadis’ evolution beyond its core ratings product to meet the growing needs of customers and the shifting ESG and sustainability regulatory landscape.

• Frédéric reflects on the company’s reach to over 130,000 customers as the importance of sustainability intelligence continues to increase.