Apiday Streamlined Rubio's SFDR Reporting and Supported a Successful Audit

Challenges

Time-consuming manual SFDR reporting for two Article 9 funds

In their first year of SFDR reporting, Rubio relied on spreadsheets: a time-consuming and tedious process for their team and portfolio companies. As a firm managing two Article 9 funds, they needed a more efficient way to collect and report ESG data. With a focus on seed and Series A investments, their portfolio companies were busy building their businesses, making extensive spreadsheet-based reporting a frustrating burden. To streamline the process for the following year, Alexandros Matthiessen, Chief Financial Officer at Rubio, began exploring tools to automate and simplify SFDR reporting.

[.exergue]"Our first year of reporting for SFDR relied entirely on Excel spreadsheets, which proved to be an extremely time-consuming and tedious process for both our team and portfolio companies."[.exergue]

Growth-stage portfolio companies needed support with ESG reporting

Revaia has extensive ESG requirements for its portfolio companies, and Anaïs wanted reporting to be a positive experience for them, not a time-consuming burden. It was a priority that each company would had the support they needed to fully understand the questions and identify the required documents.

[.exergue]“For many companies, ESG can seem like a tedious and time-consuming task that doesn't create a lot of value. Of course, we believe it can be a value creation effort and we wanted to improve the experience for our portfolio companies from the beginning, starting with data collection.”[.exergue]

Solution

Leveraging Apiday for ESG reporting and venture support

Rubio modernized its SFDR reporting process by implementing Apiday across its portfolio. Moving away from manual spreadsheets, the platform enables portfolio companies to engage more effectively with their ESG data through a clear dashboard, actionable guidance, and benchmarking tools. More than just a compliance tool, this shift provides a structured approach to advancing sustainability initiatives while streamlining SFDR reporting for Alex and his team.

[.exergue]"After speaking with multiple vendors, I chose Apiday because it aligned with our key priority: having a venture support tool that would help our portfolio companies on their ESG trajectory, where they could easily log on, view their dashboard, and track their progress. Apiday was also more visually appealing than the other options, which was the experience we wanted for our portfolio companies."[.exergue]

Results

Faster SFDR reporting and higher quality data

Apiday helped Rubio standardize their SFDR reporting, making the process both faster and more accurate. The platform's data validation features identified any potential errors, improving overall data quality while reducing the time Alex had to spend doing manual checks. For their first year of SFDR reporting, Rubio worked with an external consultant — with Apiday, they were able to manage their second year entirely in-house.

A key metric for Alex was Rubio's high completion rate with Apiday, a significant increase from the previous year using Excel. He could easily track portfolio companies' questionnaire progress and completion, using Apiday to send reminders as needed. The automated monitoring system helped Alex keep Rubio's busy companies focused on reporting deadlines.

[.exergue]“With Apiday's SFDR compliance module, I was able to generate our disclosures with half the effort compared to the previous year. We had a 96% completion rate, which was the first thing I was impressed with — I didn’t expect we were going to get that sort of participation. It shows our portfolio companies felt it was something they could do relatively easily”[.exergue]

Alex worked with Apiday's ESG consulting team while preparing Rubio's disclosures for its financial statements. The team also reviewed Rubio's PAI statement, providing suggestions and identifying any areas for improvement. For Alex, Apiday's value comes not just from its platform but from the expert support surrounding it. The consulting team's knowledge of the evolving regulatory landscape ensures Rubio stays current with the latest reporting standards.

A successful SFDR audit with a Big Four auditor

As part of the mandatory SFDR audits in the Netherlands, Rubio was reviewed by one of the Big Four firms. Alex provided the auditor with access to Apiday to examine how Rubio had collected and analyzed portfolio company information, tracked sources, and documented their methodology. Rubio received very positive feedback due to their standardized process with Apiday. It was easy for the auditor to understand Rubio’s calculations, and there was a clear audit trail documenting all data inputs. Alex noted that Apiday helped Rubio provide comprehensive visibility and transparency, essential elements for the audit process.

[.exergue]"Our auditor was impressed by the act that we were using a tool like Apiday; they said it was one of the more advanced tools they've seen for SFDR reporting. We had a lot fewer questions on our disclosures than the previous year, and it was a much easier audit process for us overall."[.exergue]

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An essential tool for Rubio’s venture support

Alex used Apiday to walk portfolio companies through their reports from the previous year, highlighting key focus areas and how they can use the platform to make improvements. The free templates and built-in questionnaire guidance have been extremely helpful, filling a gap left by Rubio’s previous Excel-based reporting system. Companies can also connect directly with ESG experts for insights and support while navigating reporting requirements. Alex sees Apiday’s benchmarking features and data visualization as essential tools for portfolio companies to understand industry best practices, assess their relative position, and find ways to continuously improve their ESG performance at operational, strategic, and board levels.

[.exergue]“The feedback from portfolio companies using Apiday has been positive. It helps them easily complete our questionnaire, visualize their data, and create an ESG action plan. They particularly appreciate having access to the policy templates and highlighted how easy it is to delegate tasks across their team and collaborate on reporting.”[.exergue]

This year, Alex saw an opportunity to lighten the reporting burden for portfolio companies by creating a single questionnaire that met all their investor requirements. The Rubio team gathered input from companies with multiple investors who had SFDR and ESG requirements, ensuring all key metrics were covered. They used Apiday to consolidate these requirements into one comprehensive questionnaire, allowing companies to enter data once and share it easily.

Less time on LP requests with diverse reporting frameworks

Alex has cut LP reporting time by two to three times using Apiday's range of reporting frameworks. With Excel, he had to collect data, verify calculations, and manually input everything into an LP template. Now, he simply exports the data and shares it, with minimal manual checks. The time saved on LP reporting allows Alex to focus more on supporting portfolio companies and leading Rubio's finance activities.

[.exergue]"A large institutional LP sent us a request with 100+ questions on ESG; it was a big ask. Instead of having to do it manually, I used Apiday's version of the LP’s Excel file, gathered the data from Apiday and our portfolio companies, and exported the report directly. Our LP was very happy with the level of detail I was able to provide, and it was an extremely efficient process for both me and the LP."[.exergue]

Dashboard visualization and a portfolio monitoring tool

Alex has found Apiday's dashboards indispensable for monitoring and gaining insights into their portfolio, tracking both positive trends and potential risks. For example, their dashboard recently flagged a compliance issue: a portfolio company had incorrectly indicated involvement in an excluded sector, violating investment criteria. After spotting the discrepancy, Alex was able to confirm it was due to a reporting mistake from the company and quickly resolve it.

[.exergue]"With Apiday's analytics, we actually discovered our portfolio companies have a 50-50 gender balance in hiring and wage parity. Having gender equality in both hiring and pay across our portfolio is something we're incredibly proud of."[.exergue]

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A strategic ESG partner that delivers

By partnering with Apiday, Rubio has turned its ESG reporting from a complex, time-consuming process into a streamlined, value-adding activity. The platform's impact extends beyond efficiency improvements, becoming a core tool for Rubio’s portfolio company support while ensuring compliance and high reporting standards.

I’ve had a great experience with Apiday. The team is eager and driven, and if something isn’t going smoothly, which will happen at some point with any tool, they jump on it and fix it right away. They get you the results you want and they’re here to deliver. I think that’s all very key in a relationship with a vendor.

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