Start-up Traxed bets on blockchain for sustainability reporting

Founded in 2023, Traxed is a very young company that focuses entirely on collecting sustainability data for compliance with CSRD legislation. Tiziano Tavasanis explains why he founded the company and what he has learned after one year of entrepreneurship. “Blockchain is a perfect tool for CSRD reporting.”

“I started this company as a result of conversations with managers who were very concerned about how they would ever be able to get the right data from all their supply chain partners,” states Tiziano Tavasanis (pictured). “Many companies have hundreds or thousands of suppliers, and they need information from them to determine whether they themselves are sufficiently sustainable as a chain. There are already the necessary solutions to gather this information, but these are usually add-ons that companies have to integrate with their logistics systems. This makes these systems extra expensive and also makes them less easy to use.”

No manipulation

Originally a software developer, Tavasanis spent 17 years as CTO at a company developing innovative business solutions. His knowledge of blockchain technology came in handy when developing the traceability manager he envisioned. “The advantage of blockchain is that companies share data confidentially and securely with each other without the need for a third party to verify it. The data is also immutable, so no one can manipulate it. This makes blockchain the perfect tool for CSRD reporting.” Traxed uses the Polygon blockchain, which is known for its energy efficiency.

First major customer

One of the first companies to deploy Traxed’s platform was Italian machinery and components manufacturer SCM Group. Tavasanis: “Their biggest challenge was that they were looking for a tool that would enable them to comply with European ESG/CSRD legislation. To collect all that data from suppliers themselves was impractical for them. They were the first large company to start working with Traxed, so the feedback they gave us was of great value to me.” Companies that want to try out the platform for themselves can create a free test account on Traxed’s website.

Gaining confidence

Traxed has been up and running for a year now and has secured €200,000 in funding to bring its product to maturity. As a start-up entrepreneur, what is the most important lesson Tavasanis has learned so far? “I found out that as a young company in a B2B environment, you benefit a lot from having a strong partner. Not so much financially, but mainly because of the trust you get. For us, that partner is CDP Venture Capital, which has a large network of all kinds of companies in Italy that we were easily able to get in touch with through our partnership. This provided us with a lot of useful leads and advice.”