CSRD Project Increased Understanding of Business Impacts at Yousician 

Ecobio supported Yousician in conducting a CSRD-compliant Double Materiality Assessment (DMA) for the company’s sustainability efforts. 

Yousician is a Finnish-born technology company whose applications make learning music easier and more accessible for everyone. The company’s two products, Yousician and GuitarTuna, are industry leaders with 20 million monthly active users – and the number keeps growing. Combining quality content, instruction, and high-end technology makes learning music engaging and rewarding. 

The starting point for Yousician’s sustainability work and the Double Materiality Assessment was quite different from that of companies that manufacture physical products. 

Sustainability Work Kicked Off with Expert Support 

Complying with sustainability reporting requirements was a new challenge for Yousician. The project team at Yousician recognised that their core competence lies in understanding their business and value chain. However, the in-house expertise to manage sustainability requirements at the expected level was unavailable. Yousician recognised a need for an external expert to ensure that everything would run smoothly.  

– We had no previous experience with this, so we wanted to find a partner who could help us ensure compliance, says Leena Suoninen, Project Manager at Yousician.

Ecobio impressed the Yousician team with its expertise and practical, client-oriented approach to delivering the Double Materiality Assessment project. 

– Right from the start, it felt like the approach was truly attentive to the client. You understood our starting point, accepted our goals, and offered a reasonable model for reaching them.

Double Materiality in a Digital Business Model 

Identifying material sustainability topics required a fresh perspective. Technological expertise from both Ecobio and Yousician played a key role in the project. 

– This was a very different type of double materiality project from our others. Yousician has millions of users, and their physical footprint is small, recalls Aku Kähkönen, Project Manager at Ecobio

During the project, the team assessed, for example, the environmental impacts of electricity and water consumption in data centres. One of the assessment’s conclusions was that Yousician’s business can be seen as meaningful and positively impactful from the user’s perspective: musical engagement has been shown to support well-being. 

The company’s mission to make music literacy as common as reading and writing enhances our employees’ sense of meaningful work, which is also reflected in our employee survey results, Suoninen tells.

A Clear Process and Collaborative Effort Built a Foundation for Future Sustainability Work 

According to Suoninen, the evaluation project sparked discussions within the organisation around sustainability that had not previously been addressed at such a detailed level. The company’s value chain was thoroughly defined, and risks and opportunities were discussed with a strong team of experts. Discussions held at the project team and executive levels helped deepen understanding of the business’s impacts. 

– Shortly after completing the Double Materiality Analysis, the reporting obligations changed. Now we’re thinking about harnessing the knowledge, insights, and understanding gained during this project to create value.

Throughout the process, Yousician had the opportunity to explore sustainability from a broader perspective and to consider issues from new angles. 

– Personally, I believe we had a lightbulb moment about how broad and multifaceted the field of sustainability is. It’s about so much more than just the environment, Suoninen reflects. 

Ecobio’s role was to ensure that the process advanced in a controlled and compliant manner and to leave Yousician with as clear a picture as possible, a solid foundation for continuing sustainability work in the future. 

– We were in good hands. As the project manager, I felt confident in the undertaking. Communication was continuous, and the expertise and project management, including documentation, were solid. The pace remained steady, our relationship was built on trust, and Ecobio delivered exactly what we asked for. And honestly, we had a lot of fun too, even though I was a bit nervous initially, Suoninen concludes. 

Read more about Ecobio’s sustainability reporting services.