Sustainability for startups and small businesses: Navigating the maze of EU Twin Transition, SDGs, ESG, and beyond.

Some days ago, a friend named Priscilla told me she wouldn't follow or share my BeVi posts because she viewed BeVi AI as just another AI startup, not making the world a better place. Her honesty deeply impacted me. Initially focused solely on product development and customer validation, I realised we needed to make impact a core part of our business model from day one. Thank you, Priscilla, for your honest feedback.

Cutting through the confusion—Understanding sustainability frameworks

Sustainability might seem like a buzzword. Actually , it is a need, critical to our future businesses and planet. It often, however, feels like one is wandering into a labyrinth, especially now that there are myriads of frameworks and initiatives available—including the EU Twin Transition, the SDGs, ESG, CSR and so many more. For many startups and small business, this complexity breeds confusion rather than light.

As an Impact Business Coach, I meet a lot of enthusiastic startups every year. They want to embrace sustainability but are left wondering, "What do we do? Do we align with the SDGs? Do we focus on the EU's Twin Transition directives? Or do we wait for the ESG obligatory reporting?"

The truth is, each framework will serve a different purpose:

• the EU Twin Transition is a strong initiative of the European Union that puts a big emphasis on the green and digital transition. ( I totally don't agree with the word "green" in it, but the European Commission didn't ask me). The Twin Transition is about making European economies both environmentally sustainable and digitally advanced, ensuring Europe remains competitive in the global market.
• the 17 SDGs ( Sustainable Development Goals) developed at the request of the United Nations, provide a blueprint for peace and prosperity worldwide. Companies engaging with the SDGs are committed to making constructive contributions to society and the environment.
• the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) criteria are becoming more and more essential for investors. They provide an index of the organization's commitment to sustainability and its ethical impact, together with the fact that many businesses need the readiness for obligatory ESG reporting.
• the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). I entirely leave out CSR since I, from my subjective opinion, have always perceived this as a greenwashing permit. You don't agree? Ok. Check the companies that for decades have received CSR awards. Maybe multinational tobacco companies between them?

Well, what option would be best? The response is not one size fits all. Each company will have to assess its particular context and make a choice as to which framework most closely aligns with its objective. But for those who strongly care about being sustainable, it could be that the combination of elements in each of the frameworks may, in fact, give the most resilient strategy of all.

I doesn't matter which framework you choose to design the impact of your startup, just keep in mind a simple rule: "Sustainability is how your company makes money, not how it spends money"

BeVi AI – A startup committed to sustainable impact

And so here I am presenting you, BeVi AI (our very early-stage AI startup from Vienna)

BeVi is an AI-based human attention analysis system that offers 2 products:

The free BeVi AI powered mobile camera App that helps e-commerce owners/online sellers/artisans/ influencers reach their audience by creating professional quality product pictures by analysing the scene and capturing the most attractive shots by itself even without internet connection.

BeVi API (B2B) helps companies that are dealing with large amounts of images to automate the process of image moderation and creating visually captivating content in seconds.

The technology and algorithms behind it were researched and developed by Lusine Abrahamyan PhD after her PhD in machine learning. Now we are building a startup with proprietary technology that makes any mobile camera smarter and through intelligent scene analysis makes product photos stand out.

BeVi Ai is not just another tech start-up, but a company dedicated to making a positive impact both on people and our planet.

Lusine wouldn't be able to found a startup that does harm to the people and the environment. Not even an AI startup, as amazing as BeVi can be, where everything feels like we've stolen it from the future.

That's why I have searched and designed for a long time ( and I am still not finished ) to deeply integrate different impact models into BeVi's operations and business model.

Here I will illustrate how BeVi fits into the existing sustainability frameworks:

BeVis Environmental, Digital and Social transition

• Environmental transition-We prioritize sustainability by utilizing our proprietary technology, compact, and energy-efficient AI deep learning model, which significantly reduces CO2 emissions, especially for businesses that handle large volumes of images. Additionally, for every 10k MAU, we will plant a tree, supporting reforestation and environmental stewardship. We will investigate other ways to mitigate our carbon footprint, such as investing in renewable energy or reducing energy consumption in other areas of our operations.
• Digital Transition- Our aim is to democratize access to advanced artificial intelligence technologies so that small and micro-enterprises can compete effectively online. In this way we will make advanced AI technologies accessible to small businesses, bridging the digital divide and enabling them to compete online.  We will ensure that BeVi's app and API are designed for all users, regardless of their disabilities, will be able to get the most out of it by thus promoting inclusivity and accessibility. We will provide educational resources and training to help small businesses effectively utilize BeVi's technology and maximize its benefits thus empowering businesses with AI education.
• Social Transition: BeVi will empower small businesses, more so women entrepreneurs, through the provision of a free camera app that enables them to take professional-quality product images without having to invest in very expensive resources. This basically levels the playing field and is therefore an enabler towards gender equity and economic empowerment. We will track the economic impact of BeVi on small businesses, women entrepreneurs, and artisans to demonstrate the positive outcomes of our initiatives. We will collaborate with organizations that support small businesses, women entrepreneurs, and artisans to expand BeVi's reach and amplify its impact.

Aligning BeVi’s with the SDGs

BeVi’s efforts align with several SDGs, including:

• SDG 4 Quality Education—by providing AI education and resources
• SDG 5 Gender Equality—by empowering women entrepreneurs
• SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth—by supporting small businesses
• SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure—through the use of AI technology
• SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities—by bridging the digital divide
• SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production—by focusing on sustainability
• SDG 13 Climate Action—through our carbon reduction and reforestation efforts

Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)

Although we are far from obligatory reporting today, we are clear about our sustainability practices, our carbon footprint, and our energy use. We're looking at things like B Corp certification to offer validation for our commitment.

• Environmental BeVi’s resource efficiency and climate action initiatives align with strong environmental stewardship.
• Social Our technology supports community development, social inclusion, and economic empowerment.
• Governance BeVi is committed to transparency, ethical practices, and responsible business governance.

The Future of the economy or the Economy of the future?

The economy of the future will highly demand sustainability more than being a current trend. This is not about saving the current economy because, frankly, that already is broken in many places. The focus needs to be on building an economy of the future—one where businesses that ignore sustainability simply won't survive.

And we have to design the economy of the future intentionally and it should be resilient, diverse and just!

I dare to predict that 50% of companies that exist today will not exist in 2050. That might seem too strong, but with sustainability as a non-negotiable agenda, only those businesses that can evolve will do well. Right now, as I'm thinking about it, I look at the five companies that I own (or own shares) and consider which one won't exist 26 years from now.

What about you?

#Sustainability #ESG #DigitalTransition #ArtificialIntellicgence #WomenWhoStartup #ImpactInvesting

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PS: Hi, I'm Asetila Koestinger von Sonnenland 🐝 and I'm a startup coach and business Angelina.

I talk and post about #impact #AI #scaling #startups #WomenWhoStartup #ProblemSolutionFit #ProductMarketFit #investmentreadiness #pitching #renewableenergy and other startup topics & advice every month.

I share all what I've learned from working with over 200 startups per year around the world. I dream of a society where startup businesses are half-led by women.

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