VERSO

NORD Holding has decided to address the mega issue of sustainability and ESG and to set a corresponding focus both internally and on the portfolio side. The starting signal is the investment in ESG software pioneer VERSO, which has also been successfully represented on the market with consulting and training courses for several years. NORD Holding intends to introduce the software solution in its 15 affiliated companies and thus standards in sustainable corporate management.

By investing in VERSO, NORD Holding is relying on one of the few ESG software solutions that have been established over many years and has now grown into a holistic service provider when it comes to corporate sustainability. VERSO helps companies to effectively and efficiently accelerate their sustainable transformation: From “Mission Zero” (CO2 accounting, reduction and compensation), through ongoing sustainability management, to ESG Reporting, a focus area of VERSO. The company is thus ideally positioned to benefit from the EU-CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) in the long term.

With the directive for capital market-oriented companies adopted in 2017 and the Europe-wide expansion to include smaller SMEs adopted in 2022, VERSO addresses the increasing need for digitization and knowledge in various areas of sustainability in SMEs. In addition, there are further increasing regulatory challenges (e.g. supply chain law), for which VERSO is already successfully preparing its customers.

“We take our responsibility seriously: to our investors and investments, but also to society and the planet. For us, the sustainable transformation megatrend, and therefore the area of ESG, is a key value driver. At the same time, we are developing ESG strategies with all our investments to make our portfolio more sustainable and, not least, more competitive. VERSO already offers a strong and established solution for companies in all industries and benefits from more than a decade of experience. Together with VERSO, we can therefore both make a significant contribution to NORD Holding's own portfolio on the operational side and benefit from massively increasing demand in the sustainability segment on the investment side,” says Christian Moritz Kukwa, Principal at NORD Holding.

Andreas Maslo, co-founder and CEO of VERSO, comments: “We are committed to a great mission: to accelerate the sustainable transformation of the economy. But implementing our strategy in this direction requires not just quick money, but the right growth partners. After many discussions with a wide range of interested parties, we very consciously chose NORD Holding. An investor with deep roots in German SMEs, a genuine will to transform themselves and a transparent shareholder structure convinced us. NH's domain expertise in the areas of software, consulting and now also ESG speaks for itself. We are now incredibly looking forward to working together to build the leading ESG software and consulting service provider in German-speaking countries. In this way, we will be able to support companies even more effectively in their transformation towards sustainability and further accelerate the process. ”

The investment was carried out by the two NORD Holding teams Business Services and Software/Technology and underlines sector expertise in the area of technology-enabled services. On the part of NORD Holding, the transaction was implemented by Christian Moritz Kukwa, Christoph Grunewald, Moritz Stolp and Kornelius Karl Komischke.

‍

About VERSO

With its software (SaaS) solution and services for sustainability management, VERSO holistically supports medium-sized companies in their sustainable transformation. Consulting and training in the area of CSR reporting, management and climate accounting make VERSO a comprehensive partner for corporate sustainability and ESG. With VERSO, sustainability managers professionalize and digitize their CSR management or bring even more efficiency to their existing processes, in particular CSR reporting. VERSO also supports companies on their journey to climate neutrality. VERSO GmbH, based in Munich, was founded in 2010 by Andreas Maslo and Florian Holl and is now managed by the two founders together with Nuvia Maslo.

For more information, see: www.verso.de