We contribute to healthier people, plants and to the biomes that support us all by harnessing nature’s own information networks. Everyday we commit to making agriculture more sustainable and to delivering client value with the lowest environmental impact.

 

We do what we say.

As a certified BCorporation we have embedded making a positive impact in our company articles.

 

Mission based

“The company shall have a material positive impact on society and the environment, taken as a whole, through its business and operations.”

 

B Corporation Certification

In December 2021, Vivent acheived its B Corporation certification with one of the highest scores in Switzerland. As a Benefit Corporation, we meet rigorous social and environmental standards which represent our commitment to do business in a meaningful way, by pursuing purpose as well as profit. The B Corp Certification covers the whole business – five key impact areas: Customers, Governance, Workers, Community and the Environment.

The certification process is extensive, with company required to score over 80 points and provide evidence of socially and environmentally responsible practices – including energy supplies, waste and water use, worker compensation, diversity and corporate transparency. Vivent scored 101.7 in its overall B impact score. 50.9 is the median for ordinary uncertified businesses. Vivent is now part of a community of over 4500+ businesses globally who have certified as B Corps. The B Corp Community is reflective of the global economy with businesses from a cross section of industries and sizes.

 

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

A life cycle assessment (also known as life cycle analysis) quantifies and evaluates the potential environmental impacts of a product or service. In analysing the entire life cycle of our biosensor (the PSR8), from the extraction of the raw materials to the disposal or recycling of the waste, the environmental impacts associated with a product system are recorded. We aimed for a recording of the impacts of CO2 and therefore climate change in our assessment. For future iterations of the product we now have a baseline of the CO2 cost of our biosensors.

Environment : Vivent provides insights and autonomous systems based on real-time plant responses to their environment. We support farmers to manage their use of chemical fertilisers better in order to reduce the nitrates that are leached into soil and water, and NO2 that are released to air which is a significant greenhouse gas. We support farmers to better manage their use of crop protection in order to reduce the detrimental effect of these products on biodiversity, soil, water and crop safety. Our policy is to support farmers to reduce their carbon footprint, our technology can be use to help farmers reduce electricity and heating bills and therefore carbon footprint.

Climate Change policy : Climate change is an important threat to the future of agriculture, due to the increasing numbers of adverse weather events and changes to seasonal weather patterns. Climate change affects water availability, soil fertility and thus, the quantity and quality of food grown.

We work with farmers in increasingly adverse conditions to grow food and help them become more resilient by supporting the micro-management of water using our devices, or the development of drought resistant cultivars.

Society : We take our responsibilities toward all our stakeholders seriously. We require that our employees are treated with dignity and respect, we pay fairly, we ensure that they have safe working conditions. We are an equal opportunity employer, we value all employees and job candidates as unique individuals and we welcome the variety of experiences they bring to our company.

We are committed to our customers’ delight and wellbeing. We constantly strive to give them the best customer service that we can.

We have a supplier purchasing policy to encourage the purchase and use of materials, products, and services that incorporate environmental, social, community and performance goals. You can contact us for a copy of this policy which we are continuously updating. Our supplier code of conduct requires that at a minimum we only enter into contractual relationships with suppliers who respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Governance: Good governance is about identifying, assessing, and managing risk. We document policies, procedures, and processes to set expectations, establish roles and responsibilities, and communicate commitments. This concerns the executive and all employees, as well as the board of directors. Good governance also means knowing who our suppliers are, what they do and managing risks associated with them.

Gender diversity and equity is a governance issue, Vivent has a 40% female representation on its board of directors, as well as 40% female representation in C-suite positions. Research shows that firms with more women in these positions has a greater positive impact on financial performance than less diverse companies.

The certification process is extensive, with company required to score over 80 points and provide evidence of socially and environmentally responsible practices – including energy supplies, waste and water use, worker compensation, diversity and corporate transparency. Vivent scored 101.7 in its overall B impact score. 50.9 is the median for ordinary uncertified businesses.Vivent is now part of a community of over 4500+ businesses globally who have certified as B Corps. The B Corp Community is reflective of the global economy with businesses from a cross section of industries and sizes.

A life cycle assessment (also known as life cycle analysis) quantifies and evaluates the potential environmental impacts of a product or service. In analysing the entire life cycle of our biosensor (the PSR8), from the extraction of the raw materials to the disposal or recycling of the waste, the environmental impacts associated with a product system are recorded. We aimed for a recording of the impacts of CO2 and therefore climate change in our assessment. For future iterations of the product we now have a baseline of the CO2 cost of our biosensors.

 

Measuring Impacts on Sustainable Agriculture

We measure the impact of our work in different ways:

• Number of plant days
• Percentage of top 100 world crops
• Crop Yield: increase in yield thanks to our biosensors and/or reduction in pre-harvest loss
• Management of water: autonomous irrigation, reduction in water usage
• Reduction of fertilizer application: early detection of nutrient deficiencies
• Reduction of application of crop protection
• Number of biostimulants and other preferable crop protection treatments for which we have supported research
• Reduction in number of grower interventions
• Reduction in energy usage for heating and for lighting