WhyWay

What WhyWay does

WhyWay is a Stockholm-based sustainability software and tools company, operating as a brand under Allies AB (founded 2004), that helps small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, advisors, and larger organizations identify, prioritize, and act on material sustainability issues aligned with CSRD/ESRS, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and ISO 26000. The company translates complex European sustainability regulation and strategy frameworks into guided, self-service workflows that require no prior sustainability expertise, targeting primarily the Swedish and broader EU SME market.

The product portfolio centers on the WhyWay Platform — a digital SaaS application scheduled for Q2 launch — that combines an interactive double-materiality analysis (mapping value to society against value to business), a guided strategy builder, action planning tools, CSRD/ESRS-aligned report generation, and PDF export. The platform is complemented by the Sustainability Strategy Board™, a physical 33×33 cm board game (also delivered digitally through Miro and Mural) that produces an initial sustainability strategy in 2–3 hours, and the Sustainability Strategy Cards™, a card deck covering 37 sustainability areas, 18 SDG cards, and 11 Children's Rights Principle cards. All products share a unified methodology derived from the founders' 30+ years of sustainability consulting experience and a proprietary engagement dataset covering 100,000+ consumer voices, 10,000+ employee testimonies, 1,000+ management perspectives, and 100 executive statements.

WhyWay monetizes through tiered SaaS subscriptions (Company €50/month per company; Agent €100/month per user plus €25/month per managed company; Partner custom), unit-priced physical products (Board Game ~€500 / 5,950 SEK; Cards 990 SEK), white-label and licensing arrangements, and the facilitated Workinar™ workshop service. Distribution is omnichannel: direct e-commerce via the Swedish webshop, self-serve online subscription signup, enterprise direct sales for white-label deployments, and a channel partnership with Almi that distributes discounted board and card products into Swedish SMEs. The company is GDPR-compliant, holds four registered trademarks (Sustainability Strategy Board™, Cards™, Workinar™, and Playbook™), and is led by founder Beata Pontén.

Name

WhyWay

Legal name

WhyWay AB

Website

https://whyway.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

WhyWay is a Stockholm-based sustainability platform provider that helps SMEs, startups, and advisors run materiality analysis, build CSRD/ESRS-aligned strategies, and generate sustainability reports via a digital SaaS platform, physical board game tools, and facilitated workshops.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sustainability Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Sustainability & ESG Consulting (BPAHACAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regulatory & Disclosure Strategy (CSRD/ESRS, ISSB/IFRS S2, SEC, TCFD) (EUABAKAH), Standards, Certification & Compliance (RECs/GOs, sustainability reporting) (EUAMANAJ)

Keywords

• Sustainability software
• ESG reporting tools
• Materiality analysis
• CSRD compliance
• Sustainability strategy

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockholm

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Software Subscriptions: Monthly/annual subscriptions for digital platform access with tiered pricing (Company €50/mo, Agent €100/mo/user + €25/mo/company, Partner custom). Revenue is recurring and scales with user count.
2. Physical Products: One-time sales of Sustainability Strategy Board (board game) and Sustainability Strategy Cards (card deck) in Swedish and English versions. Price points at 5,950 SEK and 990 SEK respectively.
3. White Label/Licensing: Custom reselling options and white label solutions for partners, including advanced reporting and extended support.
4. Professional Services: Workinar (workshop + seminar) services for team training and sustainability strategy facilitation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

WhyWay sells a digital sustainability strategy platform with tiered SaaS subscriptions (Company €50/mo, Agent €100/mo/user + €25/mo/company, custom Partner) that guides businesses through materiality analysis, strategy building, action planning, and CSRD/ESRS-aligned reporting. It complements this software with trademarked physical tools — the Sustainability Strategy Board™ (board game priced at €500) and Sustainability Strategy Cards™ (priced at SEK 990) — and a facilitated Sustainability Strategy Workinar™ workshop service, all built on ISO 26000 and UN Agenda 2030 frameworks.

Product overview

WhyWay offers a digital sustainability platform complemented by physical and hybrid tools. The core WhyWay Platform (digital SaaS) provides strategy building, materiality analysis, and CSRD/ESRS reporting. The Sustainability Strategy Board (physical board game) and Sustainability Strategy Cards (card deck) are hands-on tools for workshop facilitation, both aligned with ISO 26000 and Agenda 2030. The Sustainability Strategy Workinar provides facilitated workshop services. Plans range from single-company subscriptions (Company Plan at €50/month) to multi-client management (Agent Plan at €100/month/user + €25/month/company) to white-label enterprise solutions (Partner Plan). Partnership products with Almi offer specialized versions for Swedish market clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sustainability Strategy Board™: A systematic and engaging board game tool for creating or optimizing sustainability strategies within 3 hours, based on international guidelines including ISO 26000 and UN Agenda 2030.
• Sustainability Strategy Cards™

Products and services

• WhyWay Platform A digital SaaS platform that helps businesses identify the sustainability issues that matter most, build tailored sustainability strategies, plan and execute initiatives, and produce reports aligned with CSRD/ESRS, ISO 26000, and the UN Agenda 2030/SDGs. Targeted at SMEs, advisors, enterprises, and investors through tiered subscription plans.
• Sustainability Strategy Board A physical (and digital via Miro/Mural) board game tool with 36 sustainability cards, a board, instructions manual, and Agenda 2030 overview that lets teams build an initial sustainability strategy in 2–3 hours. Based on ISO 26000 and UN Agenda 2030, available in Swedish and English, priced at €500 (~5,950 SEK) with bulk discounts. Ships with a free Company Plan digital subscription.
• Sustainability Strategy Cards A physical card deck with 37 sustainability area cards, 18 Global Goals (SDG) cards, and 11 Children's Rights Principle cards plus instructions. Helps organizations understand and identify their most important sustainability issues; available in Swedish and English at SEK 990 per deck.
• Sustainability Strategy Workinar A 3-hour facilitated workshop (workshop + seminar hybrid) delivered via Zoom with Miro/Mural digital collaboration, guiding a team through creating an initial sustainability strategy using WhyWay methodology. Sold as a professional service for team training and strategy development.

Quantifiable outcome

• Create sustainability strategy in 2-3 hours using physical board game
• +2 more outcomes

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and core.

• Vinnova (Swedish Innovation Agency)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Vinnova-funded project to adapt WhyWay tools for Swedish incubators and startups. Project aimed at creating practical sustainability tools for SME business development aligned with Sweden's export competitiveness goals.
• JPI Urban Europe (Insight & Enlight Project)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018EU-funded 4-year project on public decision-making ecosystem including citizens. Collaboration with Stockholm University (e-govlab), City of Vienna, IIBW, and Preference.
• Allies ABcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAllies AB is the parent company behind WhyWay, founded in 2004 as a network of sustainability advisors, business developers, and consultants. WhyWay operates as a brand under Allies, focusing on tools for small and medium enterprises. The relationship is described as 'Powered by Allies' indicating deep strategic integration.
• AlmimajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAlmi offers discounted WhyWay products (Sustainability Strategy Board and Cards) to Swedish businesses as part of their sustainability support services. Almi versions available at reduced pricing through Almi's distribution network.
• Swedish Incubators NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Sweden's incubator network as part of Vinnova project to deliver sustainability tools to early-stage companies.
• SIS (Swedish Standards Institute)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSIS collaborated on the Swedish standard SP2:2020 Egendeklaration for maximizing contribution to sustainable development. WhyWay tools are designed to support this standard.
• SwedacminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwedish accreditation and conformity assessment body involved in the development of standards for sustainability verification, including the egendeklaration framework.
• Sustainable InnovationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInnovation hub that collaborated on the Vinnova-funded project for Agenda 2030 optimization standards.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Greenly: Carbon accounting and sustainability platform targeting SMBs with automated measurement, reduction planning and reporting tools. Overlaps with WhyWay on SME customer profile and accessible subscription pricing, though Greenly focuses more on carbon measurement than broader sustainability strategy.
• Position Green: Nordic-headquartered ESG and sustainability reporting software serving European SMEs and enterprises with CSRD, GHG and materiality workflows. Comparable to WhyWay in Nordic origin, regulatory alignment (CSRD/ESRS) and SME-friendly positioning.
• Normative: Nordic-based carbon accounting and climate strategy platform serving SMEs and enterprises with CSRD-ready reporting. Comparable geography and CSRD focus, though oriented more toward carbon and decarbonization than holistic materiality/strategy.
• Sweep: Sweep is a sustainability management platform purpose-built for SMEs and mid-market companies, offering carbon accounting, CSRD-aligned reporting and materiality analysis. It is the closest direct competitor to WhyWay in target customer (SME) and product scope (CSRD/ESG reporting).

Broad incumbents

• Persefoni: Climate management and accounting platform for enterprises and financial institutions, with CSRD-aligned reporting. Comparable reporting alignment, but serves larger, more complex organizations than WhyWay's SME focus.
• Watershed: Enterprise sustainability platform covering measurement, reporting and reduction across Scope 1–3. Comparable on CSRD/ESRS reporting workflows, but addresses larger enterprises with deeper data integrations than WhyWay currently offers.
• Workiva: Public-company platform for SEC/regulatory and sustainability reporting serving large enterprises. Overlaps with WhyWay on CSRD/ESRS-aligned report generation, but targets enterprise buyers with full system-of-record capabilities rather than SME self-serve.
• Salesforce Net Zero Cloud: Carbon accounting and sustainability solution within the Salesforce ecosystem, serving enterprise customers. Broad incumbent with overlapping CSRD-reporting capabilities, but bundled into a much larger CRM and integration suite.
• OneTrust: Trust intelligence platform with sustainability/ESG disclosure modules covering CSRD, GRI and SASB. Adjacent competitor with broader ESG/privacy scope, typically serving mid-market and enterprise buyers.
• IBM Envizi: IBM's ESG reporting and sustainability data management suite targeting large enterprises. Comparable on regulatory reporting (CSRD/ESRS, ISSB/TCFD), positioned at the enterprise end of the market opposite WhyWay's SME focus.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/whywayworld
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/whyway
• Instagraminstagram.com/whywayworld

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 WhyWay