New technology platform helps fashion industry tackle greenwashing

Tech platform startup Impactbytes helps companies meet their commitments to recently proposed EU legislation and substantiate their sustainability claims. It also provides e-commerce insights and connects sustainable brands with a large audience.

According to Impactbytes, it is the first company worldwide to provide easy access to the sustainability credentials of tens of thousands of products. The company has developed a smart data platform that provides product-level insights for fashion brands through a single interface.

“We saw that many marketplaces and platforms actually want to promote more sustainable products, but data about product sustainability across brands is simply lacking. On the other hand, there are many brands actually doing very well on sustainability, that are not reaching large audiences. With Impactbytes, we close this gap,” explains Melissa Wijngaarden, co-founder of Impactbytes, in a press release.

Together with Marcella Wijngaarden and Noor Veenhoven, she founded Project Cece in 2017, an online marketplace for fair and sustainable fashion that is easily accessible. This now offers over 40,000 products from more than 200 ethical fashion houses and 400 fair trade brands. Following its success in the Netherlands, the company has expanded its activities to Germany and the UK.

With data against greenwashing

The trio's next step was to found Impactbytes, a technology platform that currently works with more than 200 sustainability-focused e-commerce stores. The company creates a data feed for verified sustainable products and connects them to a large audience. Partners such as Kings of Indigo, Komodo and Swedish Stockings can then advertise their sustainable products verified through the platforms.

Impactbytes also enables print and online media companies such as magazines, bloggers and influencers to access their data through one platform to find and verify products and brands. In addition, the platform offers monetization tools that allow media companies to earn commissions by promoting sustainable products and brands.

Currently, Impactbytes has launched its beta version from Berlin and is opening an investment round to further develop the product and address the internet’s product sustainability data problem as well as greenwashing in the industry.