Pursuing a positive ESG performance is a key element of all of Esker’s activities. Driven by the belief that technology creates positive-sum growth, the company’s focus is on offering automation solutions that can give more meaning to the workplace by reducing repetitive tasks and improving customer and supplier relationships, especially for Finance and Customer Service functions.

The success of this approach is reflected in the good results Esker received from multiple ESG rating organisations:

EcoVadis, a leading business sustainability rating platform, awarded Esker a score of 74/100 for its ESG performance. This constitutes an increase of 26 points since 2017 and places Esker in the top 5% of evaluated companies across all industries.

Gaïa Research, the ESG-ratings arm of sustainable finance and development advisory company EthiFinance, has awarded Esker a score of 68/100 in the evaluation of the company’s non-financial data. Esker has steadily increased this ranking since 2019, placing Esker well above the industry average of 54/100.

Esker also received the following rankings in 2022:

• Vigeo Eiris: Score of 53/100 (up 20 points from 2021)  
• MSCI ESG Ratings¹: “A” rating (on a scale from AAA to CCC)
• Sustainalytics: Score of 20.1 (medium risk level)

Esker is strongly committed to reducing its environmental footprint and has implemented a proactive approach to analysing its greenhouse gas emissions. In order to do so, the company has established processes for determining its carbon footprint for all its locations worldwide. All French locations renewed their ISO 14001² certifications in 2022. The impact of digital technology and the energy efficiency of data centres hosting Esker’s cloud platform is continuously monitored to assist in reducing its carbon footprint.

This approach also applies to Esker’s supply chain management. The company has established a sustainable procurement policy based on fair treatment and transparent selection of suppliers. Social and environmental criteria are also taken into consideration for vendor selection. All of Esker’s vendors are asked to fill out a survey focused on ESG criteria to further encourage the adoption of ESG best practices.

Esker employees are also encouraged to participate in community events with a social or environmental purpose. To do so, they receive paid time off (France, U.S. and UK) to volunteer at a non-profit organisation of their choice.

Esker places a high value on pursuing and maintaining ethical and transparent governance. Promoting a diverse and inclusive corporate culture includes, among other things, working groups organised by employees on a volunteer basis and the development and execution of strategies aimed at increasing the number of women in the IT profession.

To learn more about Esker’s ESG strategy, visit: www.esker.co.uk/company/environmental-social-governance/

Read full press release here.

1. Disclaimer: Esker’s use of any data from MSCI ESG Research LLC or its affiliates (“MSCI”), and use of MSCI’s logos, trademarks, service marks or index names herein, does not constitute sponsorship, endorsement, recommendation or promotion of Esker by MSCI. MSCI Services and Data are the property of MSCI or its information providers, and are provided “As Is” and without warranty. MSCI names and logos are trademarks or service marks of MSCI.

2. Environmental management standard

Esker UK

Unlocking Positive-Sum Growth with AI-Driven Business Solutions for P2P & O2C Cycles

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Franz Kafka once said, “Isolation is a way to know ourselves.” Obviously, a global pandemic is not the kind of provocation the 20^th-century novelist had in mind; nevertheless, his sentiment rings true.   

In the last two years, we’ve all had more time to reexamine our place in life, to reflect on past decisions and future ambitions, and to better “know ourselves.”

Here at Esker, we took it as an opportunity to reassess what we offer our customers. After all, the world has changed a lot and so have we! Our goal was to clarify what truly makes us unique and find a way to clearly share that message with others.

After conducting interviews with Esker customers, partners, employees and investors around the world, Esker’s board of directors identified several common themes and used them to define a more befitting value proposition for our company.

The final result? Something we call positive-sum growth.

Defining Positive-Sum Growth

Here is how Eric Bussy, Esker’s VP of Marketing & Product Management eloquently summarised the term positive-sum growth: 

“In an increasingly uncertain world, business success is multi-faceted. More than just cutting costs, it’s about long-term value creation and relationship-building. Growth is not meant to be a one-sided affair. If everyone wins, you have created positive-sum growth.”

Jean-Michel Bérard, Esker’s Founder and CEO also shared his uniquely informed perspective on the concept: 

“Positive-sum growth is the exact opposite of zero-sum growth. It not only serves the company, but all stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, and even the community in which the business operates.”

Technology Behind the Philosophy

What positive-sum growth offers is a smarter and more sustainable way to do business in the post-pandemic era. There are many ways to grow a business and even more ways to use technology to achieve that growth. However, doing so at the expense of those who contribute to your success is the fastest way to turn your business into a paper tiger — something that appears strong but inevitably crumples when facing serious challenges (e.g., COVID, supply chain disruptions, etc.). 

Esker helps companies avoid this with our global cloud platform that automates finance and customer service functions. The technology behind our platform is designed for much more than efficiency gains — it’s to drive value creation beyond the doors of the company. Some of these technologies include:

• Multi-tenant platform that operates on MS Azure, AWS and more, ensuring business continuity and end-to-end connectivity
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) that gives new meaning to jobs by optimising data recognition and validation and, in turn, eliminating low-value tedious tasks
• Multi-ERP integration that’s simple, secure and simultaneous, helping business streamline onboarding and scalability
• Custom dashboards that display real-time KPIs and predictive analytics to improve decision making and long-term forecasting
• Mobile capabilities that enable critical business functions to be performed anytime, anywhere for increased flexibility

Who Benefits from Positive-Sum Growth?

No man is an island, as the old saying goes, and the same holds true for businesses. It takes an entire ecosystem of individuals, teams and connective enterprises to nurture a foundation of long-term success. With Esker, all stakeholders create value together, and never to the detriment of another. These beneficiaries include:

Your business
It’s common knowledge that automation is great for improving efficiency, productivity and cost savings. What’s often overlooked is how effective it is at keeping your business competitive even during COVID-level extremes. Here’s how filling the manual gaps in your cash conversion cycle translates to business benefits:

• Unlock more value across the enterprise by removing manual inefficiencies
• Retain and attract top talent by offering more fulfilling, strategic work
• Improve business opportunities by strengthening relationships
• Become a more agile and resilient business during difficult times

Your employees
Staying competitive in today’s business climate is hard enough. But trying to do so while hemorrhaging talent? Virtually impossible. If there’s one thing The Great Resignation has taught organisations, it’s that employee well-being needs to be a huge priority. What Esker’s solutions provide is exactly what today’s workforce is looking for:

• Jobs with greater dignity & meaning
• Less stress & more autonomy
• Increased career-pathing opportunities

Your customers
In an era of increasing skepticism and cynicism, Esker empowers companies to be the one thing their customers want and expect them to be — easy to do business with. Positive-sum growth goes a long way, and for your customers that means:

• Receiving invoices any way they want (email, PDF, fax, EDI, etc.)
• Sending orders any way they want (fax, email, EDI, etc.)
• Paying invoices any way they want (credit card, electronic, etc.)
• Transparency & visibility throughout the customer experience

Your suppliers
The last two years have clearly underscored how important solidarity and relationship-building is with your suppliers. Esker not only brings efficiency to your company’s daily procure-to-pay functions, but it also delivers a significantly improved experience to your suppliers by offering them:

• Freedom to send invoices how they want
• On-time or even early payment
• Transparency at every stage
• Supply chain financing

The planet
Yes, even our beautiful blue pearl benefits from positive-sum growth. Although Esker would never claim to have an impact equal to a true environmental enterprise, there’s no denying that Esker’s cloud platform promotes sustainability. By reducing paper and equipment in day-to-day activities, Esker users are empowered to do their part in saving trees and reducing wasteful practices.

Learn More

Think positive-sum growth is missing from your business? Get more perspective on the topic, including customer success stories, right here.   

Esker UK

Unlocking Positive-Sum Growth with AI-Driven Business Solutions for P2P & O2C Cycles

Read more insights from Esker UK

Esker, a global cloud platform and leader in AI-driven process automation solutions for finance and customer service functions, today announced that it has reached an agreement with the shareholders of Market Dojo Limited, a UK-based eProcurement software company. The agreement states that Esker will acquire 50.1% of the shares and voting rights in the company effective Q1 2022 and the remainder of Market Dojo shares after a period of four years.

Market Dojo’s eSourcing cloud solution was created to address the need for structured and digitised processes in procurement. Designed by procurement professionals, Market Dojo’s unique on-demand solution enables users to centralise information, negotiate the best value for goods and services, and select the right suppliers — all without requiring a complex and costly implementation process. In a world where supply chain management is a key factor for success, but can also often contain strategic risks, control of the sourcing process is critical for companies of all sizes.

Esker believes that the integration of procurement, accounting and financial services is a major trend in the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) market. In addition to developing its own P2P solutions, Esker addresses the demands of the P2P automation market through a combination of targeted acquisitions and value-added partnerships. The merger offers Market Dojo significant international development opportunities for its solutions. It also strengthens Esker’s competitiveness in its traditional markets by integrating eSourcing as a new key functional area, including reverse auctions, request for quotations (RFQ), request for proposals (RFP) management, supplier onboarding, etc.

“Ardent Partners research¹ has shown that more finance and procurement executives prefer to make holistic, suite-level investments instead of managing a series of one-off solution providers,” said Andrew Bartolini, Founder and Chief Research Officer at Ardent Partners. “Given that, it makes great sense for a best-in-class ePayables provider like Esker to extend their offering with the acquisition of Market Dojo.”

Based in Bristol, England, Market Dojo has 20 employees and over 160 customers, 60% of which are outside its domestic market, including France, the United States and the Middle East. The company has a trailing twelve-month sales revenue of 1.3M GBP, growing 30% annually.

The acquisition will be completed in two stages. Following the completion of customary due diligence in Q1 2022, Esker will acquire 50.1% of the share capital and voting rights in Market Dojo. At the end of a four- year collaboration period between the two companies, Esker will acquire the remaining 49.9% based on the same valuation multiple used for the first stage (13 times annual recurring cloud revenue). This final stage assumes no drastic change in market conditions regarding the valuation of technology companies. During these four years, Market Dojo will operate as a standalone business unit while offering Esker and Market Dojo’s customers a leading P2P ecosystem, with Market Dojo leveraging Esker’s strong back-office, operational infrastructure and international presence.

This two-stage acquisition process will allow Market Dojo’s founders and employees to accelerate their development while remaining directly incentivised to grow the business. To strengthen the involvement of Market Dojo’s management in Esker’s global success, 20% of the consideration paid will be in Esker shares, including a two-year lock-up commitment at each step.

“It’s a delight to join forces with Esker,” said Alun Rafique, CEO and Co-founder at Market Dojo. “There is incredible synergy, not just in our solutions, but in the people and culture. The acquisition provides a great opportunity for our customers and partners. 2022 will be an exciting year for anyone interested in a P2P ecosystem and Market Dojo will be able to strengthen its position as the market leading provider of on-demand eSourcing and supplier engagement solutions.”

“We are pleased to welcome Market Dojo to the Esker family,” said Jean-Michel Bérard, CEO at Esker. “This acquisition provides new growth opportunities in a developing market and strengthens Esker’s positioning in the global P2P arena. Additionally, Market Dojo is an excellent illustration of Esker’s strategy to invest in organic growth combined with targeted acquisitions that offer a high potential for growth.”

^{1.Ardent’s New Report on Procurement Technology. Ardent Partners is a research and advisory firm focused on defining and advancing the strategies, processes, and technologies that drive Best-in-Class performance for procurement and finance departments within the enterprise. For more information and to access Ardent Partner research, please visit http://ardentpartners.com/.}

Read full press release here.

Esker UK

Unlocking Positive-Sum Growth with AI-Driven Business Solutions for P2P & O2C Cycles

Read more insights from Esker UK