investment

– Arbor also represents potential for increased income, says top Schibsted.

When Schibsted Ecommerce & Distribution became the primary owner of Swedish comeback startup Turnr in February, the company announced several investments in similar sustainability solutions.

Now they have landed a new investment in Canadian Arbour. The company has developed a solution that gives online shops and customers a complete overview of the real durability of a product.

The company uses artificial intelligence and data from the online stores’ own systems to gather public and accessible sustainability information. According to the parties, this will allow the footprint of each product from different manufacturers to be compared.

Next, brands and products are ranked on a sustainability scale.

Long process

Juan Carlos Lopez Calvet, chief technology officer at Schibsted Ecommerce & Distribution, heard about the company through contacts in Silicon Valley, and the process took a little longer than usual.

– We usually look for companies with good solutions in the Nordic region, he says.

– But we concluded that this problem is global and that the data needed to provide information on sustainable choices is also spreading around the world.

Arbor was established in 2020, but despite having a fairly young team, Calvet believes the most important part of the process was gauging their skills and the entrepreneurs’ passion for the product.

– What finally convinced you?

– We did some experimentation with their technology and gained good experience of how quickly they develop solutions that work well and are user-friendly.

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Alex Todorovic, founder of Arbor, is delighted with this collaboration.

– That our new co-owners have ambitions on our behalf and in favor of the climate, and in particular that they put power and investments behind these ambitions, is incredibly inspiring, he says.

– Potential for increased income

When an online store uses Arbor, sustainability becomes central to the shopping experience, says Cathrine Laksfoss, CEO of Schibsted Ecommerce & Distribution.

– It will be easier for consumers to make informed choices. When we also know that a growing proportion of consumers are willing to pay more for a sustainably developed product, that means Arbor also represents potential for increased revenue, she says and continues:

– If we can help move sales from low value and margin goods to higher value and margin goods, but also longer duration, we have both lived up to our ambition to be a catalyst for growth, while we add to facilitate more sustainable consumption.

Schibsted Ecommerce & Distribution does not say anything about the size of the new investment. The company owns Helthjem, Morgenlevering and Distribution Innovation, among others, and revenues from Schibsted’s home delivery services fell somewhat in the first quarter.