Max Koningen, affectionately known as "Mr. B Corp" within the company, is proud of the certification, but sees it as just a part of a larger whole: "We are incredibly proud to now officially bear the B Corp label. It was a significant effort for StartDock to achieve this certification, and at the same time, there is still a long way to go. We find challenges in consistently brainstorming impactful ways to approach things differently within StartDock; the B Corp certification beautifully reaffirms the efforts made!"

Why B Corp?

In 2022, StartDock embarked on the journey to become certified as a B Corp, driven by a sense of injustice felt by its founders, Johan and Thom. "Companies can be significant contributors to human and ecological suffering, which we see as inherent flaws in the capitalist system. B Corp seeks to (in our view successfully) redefine capitalism by challenging 'for-profit' companies to enhance their social and environmental performance. For example, in the United States, a Benefit Corporation (B Corp) is even recognized as an official legal entity, similar to how we have BV or NV entities. That's the direction we need to move towards in the Netherlands as well," said Thom Wernke, CEO of StartDock.

The path to B Corp.

In order to become certified, an organisation needs to achieve a minimum of 80 out of 200 points. On average, companies score around 50 points, but StartDock has achieved a score of 84.5! High scores were obtained in the areas of community and employees, while significant work has been done and still remains to be done in the realm of the environment. You can view StartDock's complete B Corp assessment here.

Responsibility towards people and the environment

Over the past year, StartDock has taken several concrete steps to enhance its business operations. A few examples include:

• In 2022, StartDock introduced the Energy Portal. This portal allows StartDock's customers to access real-time usage data for electricity, gas, water, and CO2 emissions per day and per individual on location.
• Starting from May 1, 2023, StartDock offsets all CO2 emissions generated by its locations (energy, water, and gas) through traceable climate projects via Cawa.
• StartDock has been certified as a World-class Workplace with an eNPS of +82. eNPS stands for Employee Net Promoter Score and is widely regarded as a primary tool for measuring employee satisfaction by many companies.
• In collaboration with Aleta Languages, StartDock has initiated a weekly language café to assist people in practising the Dutch language, free of charge.

The next steps

The B Corp certification is a milestone that StartDock can take pride in. Within the organisation, this achievement provides renewed energy for the commitment to further sustainable development of the locations and the continued strengthening of our community. Additionally, this certification will be reassessed by B Lab in 3 years.