Benchmark Digital Partners, a leading provider of cloud-based Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), enters 2022 with new momentum following a strong 2021. Benchmark attributes the momentum to business executives and investment funds around the world prioritizing transparent, measurable, and responsible corporate citizenship and sustainability.

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“Rather than retreat to familiar territory as pandemic-induced market disruptions took their toll, companies around the world took brave steps towards embedding ESG into their operations and culture”

In 2021, mounting concerns over corporate responsibility for mitigating and adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and other global challenges continued to strengthen the case for more sustainable business practices. A recent survey from Ernst & Young (EY) found that 73% of Chief Financial Officers say it is now more important for their organizations to demonstrate performance against ESG factors than before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“After witnessing the changing expectations for the private sector over the course of 2020, last year Benchmark advanced its commitment to innovating, customizing and delivering holistic ESG program management and reporting solutions that business executives need to show how they’re taking action,” said R. Mukund, CEO and Founder of Benchmark. “And we’re proud to share that, as a result, Benchmark has significantly expanded its subscriber group for the Benchmark ESG solutions platform in 2021 and even more notably retained 92% of its subscribers since 2020. Looking ahead, we trust that 2022 will be a year in which business executives continue to advance their sustainability credentials—a process that will drive demand for relevant solutions, bringing still more opportunities for Benchmark.”

Through the course of 2021, Benchmark signed 71 new customers in 12 countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific (APAC) regions, representing a 36% increase over the previous year. During the same period, Benchmark’s new subscriber bookings increased 68% over 2020; resulting in strong overall growth when paired with resurgent expansion and growth in services to existing subscribers of the Benchmark ESG platform.

Benchmark saw particularly rapid growth in new customer signings in the APAC region and Mexico, while new subscriber bookings were greatest in Europe (150%), followed by the U.S. and Canada (61%). To accommodate this growth and best serve its diverse subscriber community, Benchmark expanded its teams in the U.S., Mexico, U.K., India and China. Benchmark’s team in Europe tripled in size over the last 18 months while launching operations in Germany and Slovakia. All told, Benchmark welcomed 143 new team members in 2021—doubling the number of employees onboarded in 2020.

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Benchmark’s most notable achievement in 2021 was the October launch of Benchmark ESG Director™, a groundbreaking digital ecosystem designed to help enterprise end-users simplify their ESG measurement, management, and disclosure programs, advance sustainable business initiatives, and capture additional societal and enterprise value. Begun as a pilot program with 14 engaged Benchmark subscribers and built on an entirely new and cutting-edge Benchmark IT architecture, ESG Director is set for launch with an expanded group of pilot subscribers in January 2022.

Throughout 2021, Benchmark worked in collaboration with 18 innovation groups to develop new solutions designed to solve new challenges. Product milestones achieved through this process include the introduction of PSI AI Advisor™, which leverages artificial intelligence to help customers identify and manage Potentially Serious Incidents (PSIs); the activation of employee COVID-19 vaccination and testing tracking capabilities within Med Care™; and innovations designed to improve the usability of various Benchmark Tech™ applications, including Genny^®, Mobile App and U Connect.

“Rather than retreat to familiar territory as pandemic-induced market disruptions took their toll, companies around the world took brave steps towards embedding ESG into their operations and culture,” said Donavan Hornsby, Corporate Development & Strategy Officer at Benchmark. “Companies understand that commitment to ESG is not just a matter of compliance, but should improve their bottom lines. And we attribute our success last year to our efforts to meet our subscribers where they are, whether that’s by adapting our legacy offerings, launching new solutions or otherwise. And 2022 will be no different.”