The Munich-based startup Envoria wants to offer a cheap and fast completeSolution for financial and sustainability reporting to compete against the dinosaurs on the market. Launched in May 2018, the fintech now generates millions in revenue. Sven Schubert, co-founder of Envoria, answered our 7 questions.
Munich Startup: Who are you and what do you do? Please introduce yourselves briefly!
Sven Schubert, Envoria: Companies now have many incentives to become more sustainable. Be it due to a better reputation, new laws and regulations that must be complied with, or because more and more investment funds are focusing on sustainability.
Our software enables these companies to collect the necessary data and in dashboards and reports This not only helps company management manage business, but also primarily secures the communicated sustainability indicators and provides audit assurance. Our system also automatically generates reports and increases efficiency.
A classic example of a sustainability metric is the carbon footprint. We have algorithms and databases to calculate these figures. But it's much more than that: When we talk about sustainability, it includes not only environmental metrics, but also social values such as equality or child labor.
“Companies have many incentives to become more sustainable”
We are all experienced managers from management consulting and met through joint projects. The founders—in addition to me, they are Stefan Siemers, Thimo Brinkmann, and Andreas Ahlert—are between 33 and 55 years old and studied business informatics or economics.
We were bothered by the fact that our market was dominated by large and expensive software providers. We agreed: There had to be a way to standardize everything and thus make it cheaper and faster. Companies shouldn't have to spend a fortune to be compliant or more sustainable. With this idea in mind, we founded the company.
Envoria: Neither dinosaur nor hodgepodge
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Sven Schubert, Envoria: Currently, there are either large providers that are very expensive and slow—let's call them dinosaurs. Or there are niche providers or startups that only offer CO2 calculations, for example.
But companies don't want to spend a fortune on the dinosaurs, nor do they want to use a hodgepodge of startup-specific tools. We are the flexible all-in-one solution for CSR. CSR, by the way, stands for Corporate Social Responsibility and refers to sustainable business practices.
Munich Startup: What has been your biggest challenge so far?
The biggest hurdle for us, as for most other startups, was the first customers. However, we can now boast a good portfolio from a wide variety of industries. It should be noted that at the beginning (from May 2018) we focused on the Reporting of finance key figures and most of our customers date back to that time. Nevertheless, it helps us immensely to be able to boast some very well-known names. Meanwhile, there are already ongoing pilot projects for sustainability indicators.
Millions in sales and organic growth
Munich Startup: How is business going?
Business is going great. We've generated over one million euros in revenue since we launched marketing in May 2018. And we've done this without an investor, purely through organic growth. Despite the current crisis, things are still looking good for us. We're currently hiring some people and are looking to really get going!
Munich Startup: What does Munich mean to you?
There are many interesting potential clients and good staff in Munich. Our current client base is spread across the entire DACH region, and we're now even hiring employees from abroad.
We currently have less contact with the Munich startup scene, which is probably due to our strong focus on B2B business with medium-sized and large companies.
Munich Startup: How can your startup become the next unicorn? Or will we see you soon at Epic Fail Night?
The former, of course! This sector is growing rapidly, and we have the right product. Celonis They have a B2B product that requires explanation, were initially ridiculed by many, and now they're the stars. With the right strategy, a good product, and the ability to adapt, we'll go very far.
Middle ground between security and risk
Munich Startup: Risk or security?
Both! We truly take a middle path. We take risks and grow, but always have a plan B.
