Sourceful’s Series A: a step towards making supply a source of good

When we founded Sourceful in 2020, we set out to dispel the myth that sustainability and business growth are mutually exclusive. More specifically, we wanted to prove that when it comes to supply chains – a company’s biggest source of emissions – businesses don’t have to choose between efficiency, profitability and the planet’s wellbeing. At Sourceful, we believe they can all prosper.

Over these last two years of building, testing and learning, we’ve discovered that global supply chains are more fractured than we could have possibly imagined. “Made in the UK” boxes frequently have their parts flown in from across the world. And many businesses, by no fault of their own, have zero visibility over large stretches of their supply network, all thanks to outdated public data and misleading environmental claims being the industry norm.

Meanwhile, the need for businesses to take climate action is mounting, echoed by the UN’s latest climate reports that state just how little time we have to prevent the worst-case climate scenario. Consumer pressure too is pilling up, with people increasingly voting with their wallets. And a regulatory tidal wave is chasing the companies who are falling behind on sustainability, which in this month alone includes the UN’s landmark deal to end plastic pollution.

Today, in response to these urgent issues and to further our mission, we’re launching our online, data-driven platform for sustainable sourcing. It’s a single place for businesses to create custom products that can reduce emissions and drive costs down simultaneously. Our initial offering is packaging — the most ubiquitous and wasteful part of the product ecosystem — and using this starting point, we’re proving that making a positive difference in the world can be affordable.

And with our methodology for calculating live carbon footprint data recently being verified by an independent panel of experts to ISO standards, we now have a scalable blueprint that we can use as our offering grows beyond packaging, to everything that moves across the supply flow.

In conjunction with our platform launch, I’m also incredibly excited to announce the next milestone in our journey: a $20 million Series A, made possible by both existing and new investors, including Index Ventures, Coatue Management, Eka Ventures, and Dominic McGregor, co-founder and ex-COO at Social Chain.

Following this major step, I want to explain how these funds will be used:

1. International expansion: We already have teams across Europe and Asia, but we’re expanding our international presence to work with more partners across the globe. This will mean more choice for our customers and ultimately more positive change for our planet.
2. More talent: Our transformative platform is the result of our team’s creativity, vision and hard work. Building on our momentum, we will bring in more change makers and top talent, doubling our headcount in the next two years.
3. More impact: We’re developing four new product categories, including the integration of recycled plastics into our platform. With the dire consequences of virgin plastic on the world now plain to see, these new solutions will offer a way for businesses to reduce their carbon footprint whilst still benefiting from the functionality of plastics.

Sourceful is offering businesses a way to create better, more sustainable products today, providing a win-win-win across sustainability, function and economics. But more than that, we’re offering businesses an opportunity to join the global movement of businesses coming together to build a more sustainable economy. Moving beyond the broken supply chain, to a supply flow that creates space for sustainable suppliers, logistics partners and consumers to connect.

Whilst our supply chains today are built on a complex and outdated system, and whilst we see them as our biggest challenge, we believe tomorrow they can be one of our biggest solutions.

Thank you for all your support.

Wing

For a world designed Sourcefully.