Human-to-human guidance for Kube ESG

Isabel, a joint venture of Belgian banks, partnered with Sustenuto to develop SME-tailored ESG support for Kube ESG. This secure platform is aligned with the European VSME standard and simplifies sustainability reporting for SMEs. The backend was developed by Karomia, an ESG software company focussing on AI-powered solutions. Sustenuto’s main task was to create human-to-human guidance to improve the user experience and allow SMEs to easily collect and structure their sustainability data into clear, shareable reports.

ESG guidance to make sustainability reporting accessible to all SME’s via Kube

Key takeaways

• Limited resources mean SMEs face challenges relating to ESG data transparency. 

• Isabel has partnered with Sustenuto to develop SME-tailored guidance for Kube ESG. 

• The project focuses on human-to-human and accessible guidance on all VSME datapoints to create the necessary mental buy-in from SMEs. 

• Kube ESG will be launched in October 2025 in English, Dutch and French. 

Regtech company

Isabel specialises in delivering data solutions for the financial sector. It provides several key services, including Kube, a verified data sharing platform. At the request of the four Belgian banks (Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, KBC and ING), Isabel developed Kube ESG to allow SMEs to generate and share sustainability reports with banks, among others. During the development of Kube ESG, Sustenuto provided ESG support to Isabel, drafting ESG guidance that was tailored to the needs of SMEs to be incorporated into the tool. Karomia, an ESG software company that focuses on AI-powered solutions, developed the backend environment of Kube ESG.

The Challenge

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are facing a growing challenge in meeting the expectations around environmental, social, and governance (ESG) transparency. Unlike large corporations, they often lack the internal resources—such as time, personnel, and expertise—to adequately respond to ESG-related questions from their suppliers, clients, and authorities. In addition, financial constraints and limited digital maturity further limit their ability to focus on sustainable practices. Finally, the available ESG data capture tools are often too complex or not suited for SMEs, leading to a gap between expectations and practical capabilities. With the release of the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non-Listed SMEs (VSME), EFRAG sought to protect SMEs from excessive data requests from their business partners. Kube ESG aims to become the reference tool for SMEs to collect and structure the data they need to answer these requests. To facilitate SME onboarding, Sustenuto was asked to reduce the complexity of sustainability topics and offer support for users of this new tool.

Our approach

As an ESG expert, Sustenuto provided advice and support throughout the project phases (2024 - 2025). As such, we developed an accessible guidance to help SMEs understand which ESG datapoints are requested and why, what they mean in practice, and where users can find relevant information (documents, responsible persons, websites, etc.). Sustenuto provided this guidance on all VSME datapoints. 

The target audience is SMEs, including those with no prior knowledge of ESG topics such as greenhouse gas emissions or circular economy. Sustenuto developed the guidance based on the following principles: 

• Align all guidance with the VSME 

• Point the SME to the person, document or website where it is most likely to find the requested data 

• Write in a human-to-human and accessible way 

• Keep in mind micro-undertakings, such as a bakery or a small service provider  

• Create mental buy-in by further explaining what the datapoint relates to 

• Use examples, of all sizes and from all industries, to illustrate types of desired answers  

• Guide interested SMEs to additional sources of information such as a website with interactive maps 

To fulfil the considerations related to this project, Sustenuto used multiple design sprints to deliver the guidance for all VSME datapoints. Special attention went to developing detailed, stepwise instructions for more complex topics such as climate-related risks. In parallel to the guidance for all datapoints, Sustenuto also created a glossary and drafted FAQs. Finally, Sustenuto also thoroughly reviewed the French and Dutch translations before delivering the finalised guidance.

The results 

Sustenuto is a B Corp certified strategic ESG advisory, with over 20 years of experience and offices across Europe. As a Friend of EFRAG-Sustainability Reporting, Sustenuto supports the development of high-quality sustainability reporting standards in Europe. In this capacity it was ideally placed to provide ESG support to Isabel for the alignment of its Kube ESG tool with the VSME standard. Sustenuto drafted 50+ pages of accessible guidance in English, Dutch, and French to bridge the gap between data request expectations and SME capabilities. Upon its launch in October 2025, Kube ESG will provide a clear platform and practical guidance, which SMEs can use to collect and structure sustainability data into clear, shareable reports.