ECo Change

WEBSITE
Italy
2 Co-founders
Prosperity

ECo Change

Founding Year:
2020
Transparency and Sustainable Production
One Liner
Redefining transparency in sustainable fashion.
Description

Company description:

ECo Change is a data-drive startup setting new transparency standards in the fashion industry. By mixing Science, Artificial Intelligence and User Experience we automate the Life Cycle Assessment calculation making it simple, fast and affordable to assess products' environmental impact (i.e. Carbon and Water footprint and Circular Scoring).


Thanks to our platform, sustainable brands can measure the impact of their products, make strategic decisions based on data and build trust with their customers through increased transparency. We further expand our offering to the whole fashion industry through a data-rich dashboard with industry trends and insights.


Problem and Opportunity:

The fashion industry has entered a period of radical transformation. Thanks to the strong pressure coming from regulators and consumers, a growing number of companies are trying to embrace more sustainable practices.


However, due to the complexity and cost of impact assessment services, it's hard for most Brands to understand their impact, whether positive or negative. This is not only slowing down the transition towards a more sustainable industry but also limiting sustainable Brands ability to effectively communicate the positive impact of their practices.


What makes our startup unique:

With our unique approach and proprietary technology, we drastically accelerate the adoption rate of products' impact calculation bringing more transparency and awareness to an industry that is in urgent need of transformation.


Go-to-market plan:

1-6 months

  • Product Development
    In the initial phase of product development, we aim to build a solid base of accurate products LCA by controlling the inflow of brands based on brand size, product type, brands ability (early adopters).
  • Customer Acquisition
    The acquisition is done through direct sales with an expected onboarding rate of 10/20 brands monthly (based on tested acquisition processes)
    Promo programs: Free trial periods & Referral campaigns with discounted prices for each brand that brings on the platform another brand.

6-12 months

  • Customer Acquisition Scaling
    Engage with Marketplaces and Retailers both as direct clients and to accelerate the onboarding of new brands.
  • Partnership & Collaboration
    Set up partnerships with Fashion Movements, Associations and Foundations to increase reliability and authority within key fashion industry players

Traction & Milestones:

  • Member of Ellen MacArthur Foundation Community
  • Pivot of the business model in November 2021.
  • Piloting the new offering with +50 fashion brands
  • 30k people are a part of ECo Change community (20k on IG, 8k on NL, 1k platform users)
  • 5k monthly visits on ecochange.co
  • Running a Family&Friends round


Management Team

  • Enzo Maria Savelli - founder and CEO Energy engineer graduated from Polimi with research experience at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Right after university, he tries to set up a recruitment platform startup with Gianpaolo and another friend (2Dots). Project abandoned after a few months of development to chase a corporate career.
    At the age of 26 he’s appointed as Country manager for Enerray Asia (Maccaferri Group) which led to a turnover of 5 million in one year and for which he opened 2 markets in the region and developed a pipeline of over 100 million. Subsequently, he embarked on a training course in the field of circular economy and systemic thinking with the EMF and EU Climate-KIC opening his career as a consultant in the field.

    In 2018 he tries to set up again with Gianpaolo E-Co spaces, co-living space for sustainable entrepreneurs (pitched to more than 60VC across the world only through cold calls), which then evolves into ECo Change.

  • Gianpaolo Volpe Pasini, founder and CMO Gianpaolo is a professional with more than 10 years of experience in strategic, tactical and creative communication marketing with different experiences in different sectors: startups, SMES, Big Corps, NGOs and public institutions.

    He graduated in Business Economics and Management of Cultural Heritage at the Cattolica in Milan. He began his career in the world of culture working as a junior Marketing Manager in New York at the Italian Cultural Institute, then in Rome at Arthemisia Group. After a Master of Science in Branding & Marketing at Oxford, UK, he undertakes many years of experience as Account Manager & Strategist in Ogilvy Worldwide, where he accesses the global young talents team that allows him to work with international teams serving several international brands.

    He works as a Marketing Manager for various Italian companies both B2B and B2C and today as an Entrepreneur in the Sustainability and Circular Economy sector, he brings integrated marketing and communication strategies aimed at business growth. His creative spirit and managerial skills allow him to adapt brand communication to every moment the company is in and optimize the growth path. (see Enzo for startup experience).

Team: 3 full time

Hiring: 2 Tech profiles


Ask:

1M Pre-seed round opening in January.


2 Co-founders

Team: 5 full time + 2 freelancers

Biggest Challenges

• Grow brands presence in the Fashion industry

• Strategic Partnership set up

• Tech Team growth

Funding
40k bootstrapped + F&F ongoing
Raising
Pre-seed +1M
Business Stage
Pre-seed