Confidential BeCause Pitchdeck 15 mins March 2025 2

Summary

Frederick, CEO and co-founder of 'because,' introduces a revolutionary data platform designed to connect sustainability efforts across the travel and tourism industry. By offering tailored solutions that go beyond compliance, the platform enables businesses to improve competitiveness and maximize their return on sustainability investments. With leading companies like Booking.com and Google already onboard, the platform is reshaping the ecosystem by simplifying data workflows, enhancing sales, and ensuring efficiency. As the company scales toward its Series A, 'because' aims to drive massive growth in the tourism sector, capitalizing on the growing demand for sustainable practices.

Takeaways

• 😀 The company is revolutionizing the travel and tourism industry by creating a connected and sustainable ecosystem, powered by data and AI.
• 😀 The platform aims to address fragmentation in sustainability data and workflows, making operations more efficient and effective for travel businesses.
• 😀 Unlike generic ESG reporting tools, the platform goes beyond compliance to improve competitiveness by optimizing sales and marketing, boosting ROI on sustainability efforts.
• 😀 Key industry players, including Google, Booking.com, and Radisson, are already leveraging the platform, demonstrating its strong market fit and product value.
• 😀 The platform’s technology enables deep data collection and repurposing, creating growing synergy and defensibility as the system scales.
• 😀 With its platform business model, the company generates value through ecosystem effects, offering modular solutions to stakeholders with diverse needs.
• 😀 Strong network effects and organic growth are driving rapid adoption, already making the company the world’s largest database of validated sustainability data in travel.
• 😀 The company is positioned to capitalize on the market demand for sustainability certification, offering a solution to the growing bottleneck in the certification process.
• 😀 The leadership team is experienced in sustainability, software engineering, and tourism, which strengthens the company's position in the market.
• 😀 The company’s brand is gaining significant recognition and trust in the industry, being invited to top industry councils and media outlets.
• 😀 Looking forward, the company plans to scale and expand, aiming to dominate the tourism ecosystem by 2030, with a broader reach into real estate and other verticals.

Q & A

What is the core mission of the company presented in the script?

The company's core mission is to create a platform that connects the supply and demand for sustainability in the travel and tourism industry, enabling more efficient data exchange and driving profitability for businesses through better sustainability management.

Why is the company's approach different from existing sustainability solutions in the industry?

Unlike existing solutions that focus on compliance or siloed reporting, the company aims to provide a holistic and integrated platform that not only ensures compliance but also enhances competitiveness, revenue, and brand sustainability for businesses.

What are the primary challenges that travel and tourism businesses face in managing sustainability, according to the company?

The primary challenges are incomplete solutions that don't address the unique needs of the industry, extreme fragmentation in data management and workflows, and limited ROI on sustainability efforts as current solutions mainly impact operations rather than sales or marketing.

How does the company solve the fragmentation of sustainability data in the industry?

The company provides a unified platform that collects sustainability data once and repurposes it across multiple stakeholders, frameworks, and channels, creating synergy and increasing the data's value as it scales.

What is the key technology that powers the company's platform?

The platform is powered by a combination of proprietary computer science, sustainability expertise, and tourism industry knowledge, enabling deep data collection, seamless integration, and the efficient repurposing of data across various channels and workflows.

What monetization strategies does the company employ to generate value?

The company employs a platform business model with multiple monetization streams, including validated data supply, data insights, and a modular SaaS product suite that automates workflows for stakeholders, as well as partnerships and revenue share agreements.

How does the company plan to expand its market presence and scale?

The company plans to expand by first capturing the lodging ecosystem, then branching out into commercial real estate, and leveraging strong network effects to drive user acquisition and convert leads into paying clients. The long-term goal is global market domination by 2030.

How does the company handle customer acquisition and partner involvement?

The company utilizes a strong network effect to attract ecosystem partners into the platform, which drives data streaming and generates highly qualified leads. It also leverages inbound and outbound marketing, partner motions, and a self-service platform to scale acquisition and expansion.

What is the role of AI in the company's platform development?

AI plays a crucial role in automating sustainability communications and decision-making processes. The company aims to develop an increasingly autonomous AI that helps businesses, including small hotels, to manage their sustainability efforts without needing expert knowledge.

What are the company’s goals for the near future, especially regarding certification and product development?

In the near future, the company aims to introduce a certification co-pilot tool that helps businesses prepare for sustainability certification, select partners, and streamline the process. This is part of a broader strategy to build the ultimate commercial sustainability manager for the travel industry.