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ESG Framework
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SectionsNo. of questionsNo. of metrics
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Context and general questions130
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Diversity and Inclusion52
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Team and working environment163
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Environmental impact71
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Supply chain62
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Data security and privacy/Data practices 131
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Responsible Product Design123
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Legal and Regulatory40
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Governance71
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Human Rights120
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Total8313
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Section 1Context and general questionsInitial assessment to understand and prioritise the needs of the business
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QuestionMultiple choice answer optionsRelevant investment processRelevant start-up stageCorresponding metricPotential edits
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What investment stage is your business?Amount raised? (in £/$) <0.5, <2, <10, <50, <100, 100+ Any
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How many employees do you have? No. of employees? <10, <50, <250 <500, 500+Any
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What sector / vertical is your business?AI
Blockchain
CleanTech
EdTech
Food & Drink
Health
IoT
AR/VR
Business Serivces
Creative Content
Drones / Space / Cars / Bikes
Fintech / Insurtech
Hardware
Impact
Manufacturing / Logistics
Other ___		Any
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What is your primary business model? [multiple choice]B2B or B2C or B2B2CAny
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Are you creating a tech product or a consumer good?Any
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List the countries you operate in (team / customers / suppliers)? Any
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What are the key ESG factors you feel are important for you to be aware of for your business?DDAny
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What do you see as the business risks that might arise as a result of ESG? Prompt e.g. reputational risk, loss of revenue, talent flight, data breach, recruitment difficultyDDAny
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How proactive are you in implementing the following across your business? On a scale of 1-10 (1 = least proactive)Diversity and inclusion
HR / Team / Health and Safety
Climate Change
Supply Chain
Data Ethics and Security
Governance
Regulatory		DD, PMAny
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AI Extension to General (If Y to any of below, then see AI Ethics Extension tab)Any
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Does the company develop AI?Any
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Does the company use AI?Any
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Does the company process large amouts of data, sensitive data, or data collected from end-users?Any
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Does any aspect of the company's operations or product relate to bIotech or life sciences? If Y, then see biotech/life sciences extension.Any
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Section 2Diversity and InclusionApproach to building your team
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QuestionMultiple choice answer optionsRelevant investment processRelevant start-up stageCorresponding metricPotential edits
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Are you tracking the diversity split of your employee base, C-Suite, Advisory Committee and Board? Yes/No - then give % women, % minority ethnic, % socioeconomic background (first generation to go to univeristy?) Matrix - gender, ethnicity, disability, education x role/ employee type DD, PMAnyYes - % women, % BAME for all employees, C-suite, advisory committee, board (or other relevant/ pertinent demographic based on region - e.g. Germany - immigration status)
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Does the company have any policies relating to anti-discrimination, diversity and equal opportunity? [what protected characteristics does this cover? e.g. list of the 9 protected characteristics of the Equality Act in the UK]Multiple choice - D&I statement, D&I strategy, D&I goals, or otherPMAnyYes - Y/N
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How does the company ensure diversity in hiring practices (including appointments to the Advisory Committee and Board)? Drop-down:
Do you have a diversity and inclusion statement on job postings?
Do you review job postings to make sure language used is inclusive?
Do you use any tools when screening candidates to improve diversity? (e.g....)
Other (please explain)		PMAnySuggested additions:
- requirement to at have at least one diverse applicant in interviewing for all roles to be able to successfully appoint?
- blind CV and testing methods
- track inclusion and attrition of diverse candidates
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Do you have any training or support tools for employees or leadership, relating to D&I, unconscious bias or anti-harassment?PMSeed onwards
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Who owns the D&I agenda within the company?PMSeed onwardsAsk about budget allocation too?
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Section 3Team and working environmentHR, benefits, culture
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QuestionMultiple choice answer optionsRelevant investment processRelevant start-up stageCorresponding metricPotential edits
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Do you adhere to the labour laws of the regions you operate in? Minimum Wage Provisions?
Minimum wage rate
Living Wage
Equal Pay
Maximum working hours
Paid vs Unlimited Annual Leave
Parental Leave Pay, statutory sick pay
Minimum-contribution company pension plan
Health and Safety Policy (for employees and vendors/ suppliers)
Fair dismisall procedure/ practices		DD, PMAny
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Do you have someone who is responsible for talent/ HR? DD, PMSeed onwards
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Do all team members (full-time, part-time, interns, apprentices, contractorse.g. fiverr or similar) have a formal contract in place? DD, PMAny
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Do you have any zero-hour contracts?DD, PMSeed onawrdsRed flag at DD
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What is % fixed salary vs.variable pay? DD, PMSeries A onwards
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Have you done a pay gap analysis between genders and ethnicity? PMSeries A onwardsYes - what is the pay gap
Recommendation - Transparent Salary Progression Framework (this is a key tool in minimising gender pay gap etc)
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What % of the company has got equity/ been granted options? What sorts of roles have options?DD, PMSeed onwards
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What employee benefits do you offer?
Examples: equal parental leave, private healthcare, dental insurance, cycle to work schemes, therapy or similar mental health support
PMSeed onwards
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Do you offer flexible hours, working from home, job-sharing policy? PMSeed onwards
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Do you have performance management processes and reviews and is there a transparent path for promotion/ movement within the company?PMSeries A onwards
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What mechanisms do you have in place for team comms, review and feedback? DD, PMSeries A onwards
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Do you monitor happiness, engagement and the mental health of your team, and offer support?DD, PMAnyYes - engagement score
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Do you hold exit interviews? DD, PMAnyYes - turnover figure (% of total employees)
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Do you have a team code of conduct and employee handbook? (incl. anti-harassment, anti-bullying policy, non-discrimination statements, forced labour statement, long working hours) PMAny
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What is the process for team member complaints, grievance and whistle-blowing? Is it anonymous? DD, PMAny
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Do you track staff turnover? What is it?DD, PMAnyAlso the product itself (lots of regulation around consumer H&S requirements)
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Section 4Environmental management and impact
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QuestionMultiple choice answer optionsRelevant investment processRelevant start-up stageCorresponding metricPotential edits
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Do you have an environmental policy? (relating to team, culture, product, operations/ supply chain etc) DD, PMSeries A onwards
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Do you track your environmental footprint? If so, which sources? - Greenhouse gas emissions (Scopes 1, 2, 3);
- Energy use (purchased and generated);
- Air pollution (SOx, NOx, PM2.5, Ozone, mercury etc.);
- Water use (inflows/withdrawals, outflows/discharges);
- Waste (generation and disposal);
- Biodiversity (wildlife and habitat)
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Do you track and report your carbon footprint? If so, which sources (from scope 1 to 3)?
- Scope 1: direct emissions from owned or controlled sources
- Scope 2: indirect emissions from generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling consumed at the company
- Scope 3: all other indirect emissions that occur in a company's value chain		PMAnyNeeds to be checked
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If Y, has it [environmental performance] been validated by an independent third- party?
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What contributes most to your environmental footprint? Multiple choice:
- Transport (freight, last-mile delivery, customer transport, team travel)
- Buildings (warehouse, office, retail store)
- Data (data centres, computer network)
- Product (customers use of your product, product design)		PMAnyPolicy of crowd provider, training of AI models
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Do you set targets to improve your environmental performance? If so, are the targets aligned with a climate scenario (e.g. 1.5 degrees, 2 degrees)PMSeries A onwards
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Do you have any initiatives in place to improve environmental performance?
[BREAK INTO SCOPE 1/2/3] Multiple choice: limiting staff travel, implementing energy saving initiatives, improving data centre cooling, carbon offsetting, using renewable energy, moving to EV fleet vehicles, recycling or reuse schemes, optimising data centre usage and cloud data storage alternatives, public transport / cycling incentivization, encouragement of virtual meetings
DD, PMSeed onwardsYes - % of companies doing which initiative
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Have you made a public commitment to, or are aligned with, sustainability frameworks/ methodologies (e.g. GHG Protocol, SDGs, GRI), initiatives (e.g. SME Climate Commitment, EV100), or standards/certifications (e.g. B-Corp Certification)?Considering another question to capture circular economy in some way
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Section 5Supply chain
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QuestionMultiple choice answer optionsRelevant investment processRelevant start-up stageCorresponding metricPotential edits
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Does the company rely on a supply chain to deliver its product or services? [Y/N] DD, PMAny
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What type of company are they, where are they are and what activities are they supplying? DD, PMAny
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Do you take on board social and environmental factors when evaluating/ monitoring your suppliers? (e.g. including D&I, labour opportunities, underrepresented/ minority groups, locality, fair pay)DD, PMAnyYes - Y/N
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Do you do any initiatives in place to monitor and improve your supply chain? Multiple choice: Supplier Code of Conduct, Member of Supply chain body, Supply Chain AuditDD, PMAnyYes - Supplier code of conduct, reviewed within last 6m (Y/N)
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Is your company (/business model?) at risk from any supply chain disruptions? If so, what are they? PMSeed onwards
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Does your business model rely on your current supply chain setup?DD, PMAnyShould be red flag at DD
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Section 6Data security and privacy/Data practices
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QuestionMultiple choice answer optionsRelevant investment processRelevant start-up stageCorresponding metricPotential edits
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Do you, through your product or service, collect Personally Identifiable Information (PII)?DD, PMAnyCheck key indicators of best-practice
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Do you collect this data to: optimise your product or service, b) comply with your legal obligations or c) both?DD, PMAny
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Do you combine data you collect from your users with other data sets?DD, PMAny
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How are these third party data sets licensed?DD, PMAny
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Is any of the information you collect, or insight you derive, classified as sensitive? (e.g. GIVE EXAMPLES) DD, PMAny
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Do you have a privacy policy? And is it in plain accessible language?DD, PMAny
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Have you been transparent with your users on how you use the data you collect or insight you derive about them through the use of your product?DD, PMAny
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Do you have a data management policy?DD, PMAnyYes - Y/N
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Is there a dedicated staff member in charge of data security/ privacy at your company?DD, PMAny
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Does the team receive training/ is the team aware on data security issues? PMAny
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Do you use technology to collect, store and manage data in a secure way? DD, PMAny
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Has the company experienced any data breaches?/ do you have a process to deal with data breaches?DD, PMSeed onwards
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Do you expect your data management process to be affected by regulation in the near future? If yes, please outline.DD, PMAny
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Section 7Responsible Product Design