Nisto

What Nisto does

Nisto (operated by Social Awareness Group Inc., an Alberta corporation headquartered in Edmonton) is a cloud-based SaaS platform that standardizes social procurement, diversity, and community benefit reporting for public infrastructure projects. The platform is anchored to specific government frameworks — InfrastructureBC's Enhanced Inclusion & Development Agreement (EIDA), the City of Vancouver Community Benefit Agreement (CBA), the City of Edmonton Sustainable Procurement Program, and the Federal 5% Indigenous Procurement Target — and serves prime contractors, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers required to report on Indigenous procurement, equity-deserving employment, and social value spending across multi-tier project supply chains.

The platform is composed of six products/modules: Nisto Statements (SOC 2-assured standardized impact statements), Nisto Integrity (analytics, geospatial visualization, compliance tools, live project updates — with V3 launched September 2025), Nisto Marketplace (geospatial supplier discovery with white-label capability), Nisto People (anonymized diversity survey using the proprietary Anonymized Matched Diversity Analysis methodology), Nisto Portal (secure raw accounting data sharing), and Nisto Link (contiguous supply chain integration to Tier 3 vendors). The technology is built on Microsoft Azure with MongoDB and Auth0, AES-256 encryption at rest, SOC 2 Type 2 certification, and aligns to the Pehta Framework, a First Nations–governed Indigenous impact standards body.

Nisto monetizes primarily through recurring per-supplier subscriptions ($299/month per active month for vendors on Fee Paid by Project programs; $249/month for Project Compliance Reports on non-FPPP projects), with a free "Upload Only" tier as a freemium entry point, supplemented by enterprise/prime contractor subscriptions and white-label/OEM licensing to certifying bodies and social organizations. Payment is in Canadian dollars on monthly billing. The company is venture-backed with Indigenous-focused investors including Raven Indigenous Capital Partners and Kehewin Cree Nation, alongside Dechant Holdings Ltd. and Dragonfly Investments.

Name

Nisto

Legal name

Social Awareness Group Inc.

Website

https://nisto.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Nisto is a Canadian SaaS platform that standardizes social procurement, diversity, and community benefit reporting for public infrastructure projects, serving prime contractors, subcontractors, and government project owners under frameworks like EIDA, City of Vancouver CBA, and federal Indigenous procurement targets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Impact & Supply Chain Compliance Software

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Benchmarking, Ratings & Stakeholder Reporting Portals (Scorecards, Dashboards) (EUABAEAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

IT Governance, Risk & Compliance (IT GRC) Platforms (HDAEALAK)

Keywords

• Social impact reporting
• Supply chain compliance
• Diversity analytics software
• Indigenous procurement tracking
• Community benefit agreements

Headquarters

HQ city

Edmonton

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription - Vendor/Supplier Tier: Vendors and suppliers on projects covered by Fee Paid by Project programs (e.g., New Surrey Hospital and BC Cancer Centre, Ambleside Integrated Site) pay $299/month for all active months where they have accounting or payroll data present in the platform. For non-Fee Paid projects, vendors can purchase a Project Compliance Report for $249/month.
2. SaaS Subscription - Project Compliance Report: Organizations may opt for the Nisto Project Compliance Report at $249/month offering in-depth analysis of organizational data in the context of the project's overall achievements. An 'Upload Only' option is available at no cost but does not include monthly progress reports.
3. White-Label / OEM Licensing: Nisto Marketplace offers a White Labelled version allowing Certifying Bodies or Social Organizations to offer Nisto's tools to their market, generating licensing/OEM revenue.
4. Enterprise/Prime Contractor Subscriptions: Prime contractors and project owners subscribe via Order Forms (as described in Terms of Service) for access to the full platform suite including Nisto Integrity, Statements, and supply chain management tools. Fees are paid in Canadian dollars with payment terms of 30 days.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Nisto provides a cloud-based SaaS platform that converts complex community benefit agreements, social procurement policies, and Indigenous procurement mandates into SOC 2-assured, standardized impact statements across multi-tier project supply chains. Its suite — Nisto Statements, Nisto Integrity, Nisto Marketplace, Nisto People, Nisto Portal, and Nisto Link — enables prime contractors, subcontractors, government project owners, and certifying bodies to capture, analyze, and report employment equity, social procurement, and Indigenous procurement data in a comparable, defensible format.

Product overview

Nisto is a cloud-based social and Indigenous impact reporting platform composed of multiple integrated products and modules. The core offerings include Nisto Statements (standardized SOC 2-assured impact statements), Nisto Integrity (secure SaaS analytics and visualization platform), Nisto Marketplace (geospatial supplier discovery), Nisto People (anonymized diversity survey tool with AMDA), Nisto Portal (secure data sharing), and Nisto Link (contiguous supply chain integration down to Tier 3). The platform is built on Azure, MongoDB, and Auth0 infrastructure, and provides standardized reporting frameworks for EIDA, City of Vancouver CBA, and project-specific community benefit agreements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nisto Statements Standardized, SOC 2-assured impact statements that turn complex agreements and frameworks (EIDA, CBA, supply chain frameworks) into clear, trusted, comparable reports for prime contractors, subcontractors, project owners, and certifying bodies.
• Nisto Integrity Secure SaaS analytics platform that transforms raw project and supply chain data into actionable insights via advanced analytics, geospatial visualization, compliance tools, and live project updates for funders, project owners, and observers.
• Nisto Marketplace Geospatial map-based discovery platform connecting businesses with verified Indigenous, social enterprise, and diverse-owned suppliers and communities, featuring performance analytics, custom reporting, and white-label capability for certifying bodies and social organizations.
• Nisto People Diverse identity survey tool enabling employees to share unique diverse identities anonymously. Uses Anonymized Matched Diversity Analysis (AMDA), generating a unique alphanumeric code per employee that is shared with employers combined with anonymized payroll data to produce credible diversity reports without exposing individual identities; employees retain control and can withdraw consent.
• Nisto Portal Centralized secure platform where organizations upload raw accounting and payroll data and receive enhanced standardized Social Impact statements, reducing administrative burden and making impact data readily available and actionable.
• Nisto Link Supply chain integration tool that links every supplier in a project's ecosystem into a contiguous supply chain, capturing verified data at each step from Tier 1 down to Tier 3 vendors and rolling it back up into a single, defensible report.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nisto enables compliance with employment equity targets of 15% of all employees and 25% of new employees from equity-deserving groups on major infrastructure projects.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Canadian Council for Indigenous Business (CCIB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCCIB fosters relationships between Indigenous entrepreneurs and Canada's institutional enterprises to cultivate shared prosperity. Listed as a Nisto partner on the main website, suggesting co-marketing, referral, and alignment on Indigenous procurement impact reporting standards.
• Pehta FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst Nations governed, Indigenous community-developed industry Indigenous community impact standards board. Defines industry metrics related to Indigenous Procurement, Indigenous Employment, and Benefits to Indigenous Communities. Nisto's technology is developed on the auspices of the Pehta Framework, and the company follows Pehta's lead on credibility standards. Pehta LP (Pehta.com) is also listed as a related entity.
• Buy Social CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSocial enterprise that believes procurement contributes to community social and economic goals. Serves as the Community Benefits Liaison for the Ambleside Integrated Site project, working with the project team to support data reporting and verification. Actively promotes Nisto's tools for standardized employment and procurement reporting within its network.
• IndigiconnectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHub for connecting Indigenous entrepreneurs, businesses, and professionals, facilitating collaboration, networking, and access to essential resources. Promotes economic prosperity while preserving Indigenous cultures. Listed as a Nisto partner.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• EcoVadis: EcoVadis provides sustainability scorecards and ratings for global supply chains, directly comparable to Nisto's standardized impact statements and supply-chain ratings across procurement contexts.
• Avetta: Avetta offers supplier qualification, compliance, and risk management for contractor ecosystems, overlapping with Nisto's prime-contractor-to-subcontractor compliance and verification flow on infrastructure projects.
• Supplier.io: Supplier.io provides diverse supplier management and impact reporting tools, directly comparable to Nisto's Marketplace and Indigenous/social procurement tracking functionality.

Broad incumbents

• Workiva: Workiva is an established ESG and regulatory reporting platform serving large enterprises and public companies, broadly comparable to Nisto's standardized reporting and audit-trail capabilities but at a different scale and scope.
• Coupa: Coupa is a broad procurement and spend-management incumbent with embedded sustainability features; comparable as a procurement platform that touches social-impact reporting but does not specialize in community-benefit frameworks.
• Salesforce Net Zero Cloud: Salesforce's Net Zero Cloud (formerly Salesforce Sustainability Cloud) is a CRM-adjacent ESG reporting offering; comparable as a broad incumbent entering standardized impact-reporting workflows through enterprise SaaS.
• SAP Ariba: SAP Ariba is an enterprise procurement platform with supplier risk and ESG modules, comparable as a broad incumbent offering overlapping supplier-diversity and compliance functionality.

Others

• Buy Social Canada / CCIB Supply Change: Buy Social Canada and CCIB's Supply Change are social-enterprise and Indigenous-business certification ecosystems and existing Nisto partners; relevant as ecosystem peers and potential white-label distribution channels rather than direct software competitors.

Emerging players

• Watershed: Watershed provides enterprise sustainability and carbon-accounting reporting infrastructure, comparable as an emerging player in standardized corporate impact reporting though focused on emissions rather than social impact.
• Persefoni: Persefoni is a climate-management and accounting platform for enterprises and financial institutions; adjacent as an emerging player in standardized impact-reporting infrastructure but carbon-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/getnisto
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/getnisto

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nisto