Stories & Metrics
The Supply Chain Innovation Fund
Metrics
The WCIF portfolio is diverse, containing companies with a range of impact and business models. As a result, progress and impact resist a one-size-fits-all characterization.
Impact expectations for the Fund are described in the Theory of Change and codified through the processes for identifying the pipeline and alignment with this impact thesis.
What Has The Fund Learned?
The WCIF portfolio is diverse, containing companies with a range of impact and business models. As a result, progress and impact resist a one-size-fits-all characterization.
Impact expectations for the Fund are described in the Theory of Change and codified through the processes for identifying the pipeline and alignment with this impact thesis.
As a portfolio, these companies allow us to test interventions and gather data that can answer long-standing questions and challenges which will be familiar to practitioners of supply chain responsibility and responsible sourcing, including:
HOW CAN SENSORS AND THE INTERNET OF THINGS BE APPLIED TO IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY AND RESPECT FOR LABOR RIGHTS?
OpenSC and Kenzen are exploring how automated information gathering can increase visibility into and accountability for workplace labor conditions.Kenzen’s personalized application of safety–focused sensors enhances safety even for those workers who do not know they are at risk.
HOW CAN CONSUMERS BETTER UNDERSTAND THE VALIDITY OF CLAIMS ABOUT SOCIAL/LABOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL CLAIMS?
Provenance is making progress through its collaborations with Prince’s and Cult Beauty.
HOW CAN DATA ABOUT WORKING CONDITIONS BEMADE GRANULAR AND ACCURATE ENOUGH TO ENABLE BUYERS TO EXERT EFFECTIVE MARKET PREFERENCES IN FAVOR OF SUPPLIERS THAT PERFORM WELL ON LABOR RIGHTS?
WCIF portfolio companies are generating new sources of data that can be useful to workers and businesses alike. For example, Altana’s work at the intersection of trade and ESG illuminates risks that accrue to individual supply chain businesses and transactions. Ulula has demonstrated a scalable approach to engaging workers about their experiences in a wide range of workplaces. Kenzen generates data specifically relevant, in different ways, to workers and their employers about heat stress and injury risk, perhaps pioneering how sensors can be applied to labor rights. SupplyShift is making available actionable information about sub–tier suppliers.
Enabling Worker Engagement
Ulula empowers workers globally using digital and gamified content to enable deeper worker engagement
Tracking Unethical Procurement
Altana helps regulators in tracking unethical procurement using its assessment platform for global trade driven by AI and data analytics