Pivoting to a B2B Model, inoqo Partners with Norway’s Leading E-Grocery Retailer, ODA
In a significant development, inoqo, an Austrian SaaS startup, has successfully closed a 7-figure funding round. The startup aims to empower grocery retailers to assess, communicate, and reduce the environmental impact of their food and beverage (F&B) supply chains. The capital infusion comes from an array of prominent investors, including Christian Kaar, Heinz Hahn, Felix and Susanne Porsche, and Daniel Zech, among others.
A Vision for Sustainable Food Supply Chains
Heinz Hahn, former President FMCG of Mondelez, praised inoqo's vision, stating, “It was clear to me that inoqo’s vision was precisely addressing a critical need within the food industry and has the potential to become the leading AI-driven environmental product management platform.”
Partnership with ODA
Founded in 2020, inoqo has already partnered with ODA, Norway’s leading e-grocery retailer. The collaboration enabled ODA to calculate the climate impact of 6,600 F&B products, considering factors like product ingredients, composition, and all production and distribution processes. This partnership is particularly noteworthy as ODA has been internationally recognized for its ambitious sustainability goals, including communicating the carbon footprint of customer's grocery shopping on their receipts.
AI-Driven Platform for Scalable Impact Assessment
inoqo’s technology is heralding a new era in Scope 3 assessment and communication within the grocery industry. The AI-powered platform can re-engineer the composition of thousands of F&B products based on existing retailer data. It takes into account various product features such as likely country of origin, production processes, packaging, and transportation. Markus Linder, Founder & CEO of inoqo, commented on the platform's capabilities, stating that it provides a "fly-wheel that enables [retailers] to communicate the impact of their products to consumers, while getting an ever more granular view of the impact of their thousands of products over time."
Avoiding Greenwashing
To ensure credibility and avoid greenwashing, inoqo uses conservative data when primary data is unavailable. This approach allows producers to provide increasingly specific product data over time, replacing conservative assumptions with actual product data.
The Importance of Comparable Data
Turi Pettersen, Head of Sustainability and DEI at Oda, emphasized the importance of robust, comparable data. “We are genuinely impressed with what inoqo has to offer! Retailers can truly make a significant impact in this space by leading the industry—not only by setting an example for other retailers but also by challenging their producers to acknowledge and improve their carbon footprint."
From B2C to B2B
Initially launched as a consumer-focused app in 2020, inoqo quickly gained traction among environmentally conscious consumers in Austria. The startup's pivot to a B2B model has caught the attention of grocery retailers interested in leveraging its capabilities for sustainability.
Conclusion
inoqo's successful funding round and partnership with ODA mark a significant step forward in the grocery industry's journey towards sustainability. With its AI-driven platform, inoqo is set to revolutionize how grocery retailers assess and communicate the environmental impact of their F&B products, thereby contributing to the global race to net-zero emissions.
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