ASSENT COMPLIANCE FAST FACTS
- Incorporated in 2010 by founders Matt Whitteker, Jonathan Hughes and Rob Imbeault.
- In 2014, Andrew Waitman joined Assent Compliance as CEO.
- From 2016–2018, Assent closed three funding rounds, totaling $221 million CAD.
- In 2019, named to annual Narwhal List by the University of Toronto’s Impact Centre, which ranks firms by their ability to scale up and reach world-class status. The list identifies young Canadian companies that have the potential to become “unicorns” — those with a billion-dollar-plus valuation.
- Ranked 313th on Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 500 list of the fastest-growing tech companies in North America, and 48th on its Technology Fast 50 Canada list of the fastest-growing tech firms across the country.
- Headquartered in Ottawa, Assent employs over 600 people worldwide.
- Assent has offices in the United States, the Netherlands and Malaysia, with operations on four continents.
Companies face an ever-growing number of regulatory and business require-ments in order to put their products on the global market. These range any-where from product composition rules (think BPA or lead in paint) to responsible sourcing (conflict minerals) and human rights (trafficking).
You may have never heard of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) Directive, for example, but it’s a big reason the smartphone in your pocket isn’t giving you cancer. Com-panies must prove to government agencies, and in many cases their customers or business partners, that they meet these requirements — and this involves leveraging data.
Gathering and validating that data, however, is a challenge. Suppliers may not understand what is required of them, and unintentionally provide inaccurate data. Despite this, companies must ensure they get the data they need, because the consequences of non-compliance are significant. Contract loss, denied mar-ket access, reputational and brand damage, and, in some cases, legal penalties and fines are all real possibilities for companies that fail to properly perform due diligence.
The supply chain is one of the most immediate sources of risk for companies to-day, but Assent can help them manage it. Combining leading-edge technologies with extensive supply chain expertise, Assent provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that manages third-party data to protect corporate brands, in-crease market accessibility, and reduce operational and financial risk.
Driving Transparency in the Supply Chain
Assent Compliance was incorporated in 2010 with a simple goal: to help com-panies automate some of these highly manual (and, therefore, error-prone) data processes. However, Assent quickly identified an opportunity to go beyond sim-ple automation and disrupt the supply chain data space.
In 2014, with a new CEO at the helm, Assent began its journey into supply chain data management. The company has invested heavily in research and development, resulting in an innovative and disruptive SaaS supply chain data management platform.
The Assent platform’s data-agnostic nature is what makes it so innovative. The software automates the collection and validation of data for a broad range of sup-ply chain compliance and business requirements, manages all of that data in a cen-tral database, and delivers actionable insights into supply chain risks. The platform also outputs the necessary reports to comply with requirements across a variety of industries, including aerospace and defense, medical devices and electronics.
At Assent, we’re driving digital transformation in the supply chain through innovation and visionary product development. We will continue to do that in 2020 and beyond.”– Andrew Waitman, CEO
Assent is working with some of the world’s largest companies and most complex supply chains to help them:
- Identify human trafficking and slavery risks in supply chains.
- Measure and eliminate harmful substances from products.
- Manage customs and trade compliance data requirements to streamline the import/export of products.
- Ensure responsible sourcing of materials, with consideration of environmen-tal impacts and conflict.
- Design sustainable products.
In short, the Assent platform is providing clean data and clear insights to drive transparency across the supply chain, exposing risks and empowering compa-nies to make effective decisions that improve their business.
