Milan, 29 February 2024: Zucchetti, the leading Italian group in the supply of software, hardware and IT services for companies and professionals, joins the capital of ESGmax, the first SaaS dedicated entirely to simplifying the process of collecting and managing ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) data.
The startup, the latest spun up by Startup Bakery, has received from Zucchetti a first seed of €500,000 which, together with the €200,000 paid in by the Italian Startup Studio itself, brings the raise to a total of €700,000, in addition to Zucchetti’s commitment on subsequent tranches against commercial results to be achieved, for an expected overall raise of €1,400,000.
The shared objective of the operation is to transfer control of the ESGmax initiative from Startup Bakery to Zucchetti within a short time, so that Zucchetti will fully acquire the company as an industrial partner at values predefined by the agreed commercial targets.
The operation follows the line of the other initiatives already launched by Zucchetti in IT solutions and services to make companies ‘ESG compliant’: sustainability report preparation, management software for sustainable mobility, asset management and workspace booking, energy efficiency, dematerialisation, document management and digital preservation.
“This operation confirms that an alternative path to classic Venture Capital exists. A path that is not purely financial but also industrial, and functional to a concrete Open Innovation. Despite their long experience in acquisitions and investments, for Zucchetti and for our country this will nonetheless be a novelty, commented Alessandro Arrigo, CEO and co-founder of Startup Bakery, We greatly appreciated this large company’s curiosity and its willingness to try this new way of doing innovation and business, and I must acknowledge that the dialogue was extremely encouraging and productive right from the start”.
ESGmax is a cloud solution that makes the collection and analysis of ESG data simpler for the purposes of drafting sustainability reports, thanks also to Generative Artificial Intelligence. Ideal both for companies legally required to draft one and for those that are not but that belong to a supply chain or intend to position themselves with a certain profile towards institutional investors and clients, it is also suited to sustainability consultants of every kind.
“First of all we appreciated ESGmax’s proposition, that is, the possibility of easing the ESG reporting process for SMEs too. We were also positively struck by the technical skills of the people, since knowledge of sustainability indicators and the ability to map them digitally are fundamental requirements for optimally configuring how clients manage their reporting”, added Domenico Uggeri, vice president of Zucchetti, “The group is betting heavily on this aspect. We believe that easing the communication of corporate sustainability will mean bringing considerable value to all Zucchetti clients”.
The sustainability report is in fact a fundamental instrument for large companies and SMEs alike, since it allows transparent communication of environmental, social and governance impacts. It offers a detailed overview of the sustainable activities carried out, demonstrating a commitment to responsible management and to creating long-term value. However, despite the presence on the market of numerous software solutions, collecting information from the various stakeholders in order to draft the sustainability report is still often a slow, manual and inefficient process, in all its main aspects and above all in those involving communication between people: data collection, materiality analysis, deadline monitoring and multi-hand collaboration.
“Simplifying the process of collecting and managing data allows a more accurate analysis and an effective assessment of sustainable performance, concluded Massimo Ferri, CEO and co-founder of ESGmax , Reducing complexity allows companies, whatever their size, to better integrate sustainable practices into their business model, thereby contributing to a positive impact both socially and environmentally. Companies should only have to worry about being sustainable, while we, with ESGmax, help them communicate it efficiently to the market and to all stakeholders”.
ESGmax has already recorded dozens of pre-orders and is ready to go to market by Q1 2024 with its Value, Growth and Impact packages.
Alessandro Arrigo CEO Startup Bakery // Massimo Ferri, CEO ESGmax // Domenico Uggeri, VP Zucchetti
Zucchetti
With revenues expected to exceed 2 billion euros in 2023, Zucchetti is Italy’s leading software company. The group counts more than 9,000 people, of whom 2,000 are dedicated exclusively to research and development activities.
Zucchetti has the market’s broadest offering in terms of software solutions, hardware and innovative services designed to meet the specific needs of companies of any sector and size, professionals, public administration and healthcare.
The company carries out open innovation processes daily, working closely with its clients and the group’s companies, with which it develops application solutions able to fully meet the market’s current needs as well as to anticipate future ones: from modern ERPs to solutions for personnel management (HR and Welfare, HR Cost & Planning, Safety & Security, HR Mobility, Risk & Audit), through Business Intelligence, CRM, e-commerce, digital marketing, applications for vertical markets (manufacturing, fashion, large-scale retail, hospitality and retail), asset management, energy efficiency and much more.
Startup Bakery
Startup Bakery is the Italian startup studio founded by Alessandro Arrigo and Angelo Cavallini in February 2020 with the goal of bringing to life sustainable B2B SaaS companies with a strong Artificial Intelligence component, and of allowing founders, companies and professional investors to express their potential.
Contrary to what usually happens in the Venture Capital world, Startup Bakery relies on the involvement of industrial partners to put its initiatives to work. This path aims to reduce the degree of risk of doing startups, while maintaining high returns for its Limited Partners.
The Studio guarantees the serial application of tools, skills and methodologies already present in the team, and stands beside the co-founder through every phase, from the raise to the exit, making them progressively more independent. Thanks to a proprietary algorithm, it can count on advanced capabilities for collecting and processing market data in order to identify niches of interest to occupy, while the cyclical validation of the initiatives launched is guaranteed by the application of the lean method.
