Issue # 4 Insert here something different than happy new year...
Renoon's re-thoughts from you and us
Hey guys,
I didn’t forget to change the title: this is literally what I could think of as I write one of the last few emails of the year…and I can’t think of a better recipient than you.
If this is your first time reading this type of letter: welcome to Renoon Circle. These are a bunch of words from me, us to you as a verified profile with no established cadence. Just when the heart desires 🌍
I love sharing things here that other startups might consider “too private”. But transparency and honesty feel good to us.
2022 was a huge year for me, you, and Renoon’s team. For starters, we grew to 8 people in the team & 70+ verified profiles in this circle. But we are not here to (only) brag about our successes. 2022 was a year of HUGE changes and it was hard as hell…nothing worth doing is easy, right?
From our side
Earlier in the year, something major happened to Renoon: we started to ask ourselves… “okay, we have now reached 50k+ app downloads and thousands of people who are actively using the app - also thanks to you guys…we know what people want, we have proven that if given the chance we all love to be part of something positive…but everyone kept telling us that the main problem is that still not enough people know about the app…but how could we reach them?!”. We quickly realized that having a dedicated app for transparency and sustainability is great…but it shouldn’t only be the consumers’ responsibility to go and look for this information.
So we had an idea💡: what if Renoon’s transparency labels and values could be directly accessible on websites people visit? This would be HUGE for brands too.
And snap: some first clients proved us right! In November we went live with the swimwear and activewear brand: Copenhagen Cartel. Here’s the - not so little - label below:
Another reason why we call this a “pivot” is that this has become our major focus: new regulations and stuff made us realize that brands themselves need to start digging deeper & deeper into a brand’s supply chain, and certifications…and ANY websites carrying products will have to display this information BY LAW eventually anyways…not just brands, but also stores. So, we finally went live with what we call:
Boring name: “dashboard”
The name we love, but we were told it’s too long: “the tool that puts some spice under brands’ butt & willingness to invest in real sustainable transformation by showing them where they stand in terms of sustainability and how they could improve”
The Dashboard can only be accessed by the brand itself and allows them to manage all their data, which Renoon then analyses and puts into the label on their e-commerce…
And okay this is probably too much…but didn’t even get started.
So what is your role in all of this?
Like all people…everyone should probably demand this transparency label from brands. They empower other consumers to get educated and shop with more awareness…
Plus, brands can display the Renoon Reviews score: this is all peer reviews and is created by people! So yes, you have the direct power to influence other people’s choices.
What do YOU think your role could be?
What does 2023 hold?
We have so overwhelmed…every day we get more and more brands interested in displaying this label. You will already be able to see this on 5 more websites in January!! We are already very excited about this and can’t wait to see where this takes us.
Especially we are excited to receive questions from other industries…like beauty & skincare, electronics, food…etc.
One last but not least exciting thing that happened to us this year: we welcomed Ani to the marketing team & Toni for brands’ communications! Say hi to them…
From your side
Grab a cup of tea and enjoy this (not) short timeline of what you guys did this year…
February - Agnes founded the clothing repair service MENDED
September - Bibi-Jane aka story-teller of up-cycling jeans was spotted by ELLE Netherlands; plues the denim bathrobe she created on Tiktok is….
December - Jade Mcsorley joined the “Female Narratives” in LND
June - Zahra Biabani Gave a speech - “The eco-creators helping the climate through social media” on TEDTalk
That’s it for today, you guys. The upcoming months are already going to be pretty full…new clients, and a working visit to NYC (I hate my flights’ CO2 emissions! I’m offsetting as much as possible..which is bad!).
Can’t wait to see what you guys are gonna do in 2023. Happy new year’s eve.
Iris & Ani