Cloud Primero B.V

We have just concluded two insightful days at the 2nd ESG & Sustainability Reporting Summit, exploring the depths of the latest updates in sustainability reporting standards and how they impact an organization’s reporting practices. Covering a range of crucial topics, including new ESG regulations, corporate compliance, effective and scalable reporting frameworks, and ESG reporting tools, attendees investigated the transformative potential of evolving disclosure requirements and how they can be leveraged into a competitive advantage. Hats off to our Sponsors Speeki and kShuttle/kShuttle International for the inspiring case studies on how to raise ESG standards and transform them into an edge over competitors. Special thanks to our speakers for their practical insights: Scott Lane Richard Beaumont Paulien Eckhardt Patrick Linighan Anna Tabell Ann-Kathrin Langefeld Mischa Sander Mina Saidze Dana Wieczorek Gerald Zeiner Tim Ballenberger Juliane Hilf Marlen Vesper-Gräske Sandra Schoonhoven Brigitte Bichler Pinja Piipponen Andreas Pattichis Francesca Galeazzi Kevin Flowers Dr. Jennifer Pernau Navin R. Carsten Auel

Opinion: European startups need to start working with NGOs. For free. As a European startup founder, it's easy to say you believe in tech for good. It's good PR, it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling, and it might even convince some people that you’re not in it for the money. But what do those words actually mean? As words, they mean very little. I know times are tough. Fundraising right now isn’t easy, and you might be facing down-rounds and bridge-rounds. VCs that were once on speed dial may no longer be returning your calls. But I’m here to tell you that actually investing in tech for good makes sense. The 2023 UK Charity Digital Skills report found that 49% of British charities are unable to afford the technology required to meet their digital needs. A staggering 92% of NGO employees worldwide said they lacked the digital skills to do their work. Across Europe, NGOs doing essential work to fix the existential problems we all face are wrestling with antiquated software and hardware, fighting with one hand tied behind their backs. Since the advent of generative AI, much of the talk has been how it can help us work smarter, invest better, and write better. Far less has been said on the way it could help NGOs fix issues like the refugee crisis or climate change. Few NGOs have the time or the money to invest in their own large-language model or AI-powered tools to help them do their jobs. Yet, European startups have the tech, the people, and often the investment to help them. In 2023, Polish non-profit Success Written in Lipstick Foundation wanted to launch a website in the run-up to the elections that would link female voters to candidates that represented their interests. We linked the Foundation with SPEEDNET , a leading Polish software development agency. The effort engaged over 500 influencers, and the website was visited 80,000 times during the election campaigns; 12.6 million people were reached via social media. It worked: 75% of women cast a vote in the 2023 parliamentary elections, outnumbering male voters for the first time. Another partnership was with Latin American non-profit The Lily Project, which provides sexual health education to rural teenagers to prevent cervical cancer, the leading cause of death among young women in Nicaragua. The Lily Project was paired with Cloud Primero B.V, a software development company from the Netherlands, which built an app, Chava App, for the NGO pro bono. The app provides total anonymity for users and can function on limited bandwidth and less high-tech mobile devices, a key consideration in rural Nicaragua. It has already saved lives. What do founders say about these partnerships? I encourage you to read my latest op-ed on Euronews where you'll find more info on the results and the impact of such collaborations. Happy to hear your thoughts. #techforgood #socialimpact #impactinvestment