In the innovative world of startups, a good idea can lead to a great one. A few years ago, Australian sisters Naomi Vowels and Frances Atkins created a children’s book with a difference. They invited customers to go online and input a child’s name so that child could be made part of the story in a printed personalized copy. The model was monetizable and scalable. And, best of all, everyone loved the books – including the kids. Orders poured in from the public as well as from corporations that used the books as customized customer gifts. Thankful for their success, Vowels and Atkins happily donated some proceeds to a non-profit that supports children’s literacy. Giving back has always been in line with their business philosophy. They were, however, surprised that none of their customers had asked them about their corporate responsibility goals. That made them think: How could they help companies understand why doing social good is also good for business? Atkins, a lawyer-turned-banker, and Vowels, a diplomat, started brainstorming possibilities. They wanted to leverage their professional skills and follow their passion for social action and sustainability within a sound business model. After several iterations, they landed on their big idea: givvable – a platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that helps businesses make informed and sustainable supply chain decisions. [caption id="attachment_116149" align="alignright" width="300"]

Above: The sisters produced personalized children's books. Photo: givvable.[/caption] Consumers around the world are increasingly calling on industry to become carbon neutral and environmentally responsible. That means businesses must not just act sustainably themselves, they must also purchase goods and services from suppliers that do the same. The givvable platform gathers intelligence on the sustainability actions of suppliers across supply chains. Built on the cloud and using AI, it processes mountains of unstructured and uncleansed data into usable and searchable data formats. This information enables a company to monitor the actions of its vendors and partners and to search for new verified suppliers. It also has a secondary function that maps the credentials of companies, organizations and governments to widely used sustainability and reporting frameworks – such as the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and those of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB). This mapping provides industries and sectors a trusted hub for verified supplier intelligence.

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