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Finch 👣

standardizing sustainability

setting the scene

  • nothing says climate change like summer temperatures in November 🥵
  • to decrease your environmental footprint, you start to look closer at the labels on your food, products, and clothing ♻️
  • half the products you see claim “all natural,” “eco-friendly,” “chemical free,” “non-toxic,” “organic,” or “clean”
    • are all these products good for the planet? how are you supposed to filter out the greenwashers and identify the best options?
  • this week’s company helps consumers take control of their environmental footprint by providing sustainability scores on household products 💡

in a sentence

Finch provides product sustainability information to online shoppers through a browser extension 

  • product sustainability: products from toilet paper to sunscreen are analyzed via 250+ science-backed sources and ranked from 0-10, based on:
    • carbon emissions, ecological footprint, impact on well-being, waste production, and use of water and raw materials
  • shoppers: Finch sells consumer shopping data to brands to help them understand the eco-friendly customer
  • extension: the plug-in shows Amazon shoppers product scores and sustainable alternatives

bulleted version: similar to how Booking.com rates hotels to inform customers on the best hotel options, Finch provides sustainability rankings to help consumers select the right products 🏨      

the basics

  • industry: clean tech, ecommerce, browser extension
  • headquarters: New York, NY 🍏
  • year founded: 2020
  • company size: 7 employees
  • investors: Amasia Ventures, Ryan Hudson, Techstars 
  • amount raised: $1.5m, closing seed round
  • business model: b2b ecommerce partnerships, selling user data to CPG brands

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due diligence

what we like

  • 🛍 empowering sustainable shoppers: while 2/3 of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products, most struggle to identify the best options due to label confusion and greenwashing
  • 🤑 greener corporations: companies are struggling to identify their customers’ demands for sustainability, and Finch can help them identify consumer preferences and supply chain shortcomings
    • spend on ESG business services will reach $158b by 2025
  • 📉 decreasing emissions: countries, cities, and corporations are pledging net zero in 10-20 years, and Finch holds consumers and companies accountable in the urgent fight against climate change

potential risks

  • 🔌 extent of the extension: browser extensions are difficult to scale, and less than 2% of Chrome extensions surpassed 100,000 users last year
    • will this tool enable Finch to become the ecommerce standard for sustainability scoring?
  • 🏷 selling to consumer brands: while large CPG brands can pay sizable checks, selling data to low-margin companies may cause longer sales cycles and a lower serviceable obtainable market
  • 💰immediate revenue: Finch can only scale their customer base when they have enough consumers on the platform to provide reliable data
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founder profile

comps

why Finch: with a 53% 4-week rolling retention and thousands of individuals who trust their browser extension and environmental expertise, the company’s early traction suggests sustainable success 📈    

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