Business sustainability ratings provider EcoVadis announced today the acquisition of human rights technology and analytics company Ulula, with the transaction aimed at increasing its capabilities to help organizations improve human rights impact across supply chains and comply with new regulatory requirements.

According to EcoVadis, the acquisition comes as companies are facing increasing pressure from new laws requiring “unprecedented levels of rigor and verifiable detail to support disclosure on value-chain sustainability performance,” including anti-slavery and human rights due diligence requirements from regulations such as the EU’s recently passed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), as well as bans on products made using forced labor, modern slavery laws and requirements for grievance mechanisms introduced in areas including the U.S., UK, Germany and Canada.

Pierre-François Thaler, co-founder and co-CEO of EcoVadis said:

“With the acquisition of Ulula, EcoVadis will be well positioned to integrate and scale up supply chain labor and human rights risk due diligence, meeting customer demands for on-the-ground, verifiable data. This complements our in-depth ratings expertise and bolsters our offering to help companies around the world comply with new regulatory requirements.”

Founded in 2015, Canada-based Ulula provides solutions aimed at fostering more transparency in global supply chains and to improve social, labor and human rights impacts, with a presence in sectors including mining, manufacturing, textiles, construction, electronics and agriculture. The company provides automated workforce surveys, grievance management systems and analytics dashboards, aimed at enabling companies to engage workers and communities to identify human and labor rights risks across supply chains, and build insights to address and remediate those risks.

The companies said that they aim to deliver a consolidated product offering ahead of new regulatory requirements coming into effect, and to significantly expand the reach and impact of the Ulula platform.

Antoine Heuty, founder and CEO of Ulula, said:

“Ulula and EcoVadis share an ambition to confront and accelerate progress on the devastating scope of threats to human rights and working conditions across global supply chains. Joining forces will enable us to combine Ulula’s direct labor and human rights data collection and reliable insights with EcoVadis’ global platform and network to accelerate positive impact at unprecedented scale.”