The blockchain start-up Retraced was founded with the aim of making global production processes more transparent, also for the textile and clothing industry. The company recently shared its 2022 highlights, including closing a €6.5 million second round of funding, winning three awards, expanding the team and using the platform in more than 80 countries worldwide. Not bad for a company that’s only in its fourth year.
And those are just the successes on the corporate side. Looking at the successes on the part of users of the Retraced platform, 13,700 human rights risks and 4,050 environmental risks were mitigated during the year.
“By expanding our global network of brands and suppliers, we are able to increase our impact on fashion supply chains and the people and environment in and around them. At the same time, we help our customers become more efficient and support them in complying with all regulations in the supply chain,” comments Lukas Pünder, co-founder and CEO of Retraced, in a press release.
FashionUnited wanted to know more about these impressive risk mitigation numbers and reached out to Retraced. The Düsseldorf-based company explained that risk mitigation is part of its valued risk assessment function, which automatically gives clients a comprehensive overview of global risk factors based on OECD classifications and numerous indices and databases such as IGB, GRI and GSI.
Gross Risk Score assesses each country’s ESG parameters
A “Gross Risk Score” for the three categories of environment, social affairs and governance (ESG) is assigned for each country in the world. Customers can verify this score for each country they do business in against their supplier network mapped via Retraced.
“The first step in risk mitigation is automatic – our system looks at the evidence that brands and suppliers have already attached to their Retraced profile to see the extent to which they have mitigated global risks across their supply network,” Retraced explains in an E -Mail to FashionUnited.
“The next step allows for prioritization – brands can identify areas where they either need to make improvements and/or document their network to mitigate risk. For example, there are some countries that have a high risk of child labor. However, a brand using Retraced can see how high the risk is and which suppliers in that country can demonstrate that they are addressing these specific child labor risks. For those who don’t, the brand can follow up,” adds Retraced.
“The next step in risk mitigation is therefore manual – our clients prioritize for their brands and track their supplier network, implement corrective actions where necessary, and collect and provide relevant supporting documentation to address the risks found in their initial automated assessment , to mitigate,” concludes Retraced.
Progress is a rocky road
Despite the successes – including the award as Germany’s top start-up employer, the GEC Textile Award 2022, the environmental economy award NRW 2022, the Innovations for Tomorrow Award from Hess Natur and the Oracle Global Leaders Champion Award for Retraced CTO Peter Merkert – there is still a lot to be done in an increasingly challenging environment.
“We continue to work on bringing transparency to the production processes so that our partners can minimize risks and prioritize the next steps. However, the fashion industry’s global supply chains are incredibly complex and there is still work to be done. This slow progress can be frustrating, so it’s important to recognize that progress is a journey,” advises Retraced.