January 9, 2025
Meet Alex Olmedo and Max Ziesemer from FastTrack
Environmental impact has become increasingly important to me. I have a deep love for nature, and have been exploring how I can do something personally fulfilling in terms of environmental sustainability. I’ve studied permaculture, I am a beekeeper, and I’ve started a few small-scale personal projects, and some investments focused on restoring biodiversity and reducing negative impact on the environment and natural ecosystems. - Alex Olmedo
About FastTrack
FastTrack is a purpose-driven accelerator, specialising in Asia Pacific growth. They empower European Tech-for-Better entrepreneurs to scale their companies in the region, enabling them to make a bigger impact faster. Founded in 2012 to find a better way to grow businesses, making them more inclusive, equitable and empowering for everyone involved. The company is driven by three fundamental beliefs:
If interests are aligned from the start, people own success as well as its rewards;
If people are free to take initiative, they move faster, learn faster, grow as individuals and as a team; and
If we create value beyond financial growth, and beyond today, then our work is more fulfilling.
“We find purpose in what we do, and have impact beyond ourselves. From building better businesses to building business for better, we’re steadily widening our impact. Put simply, we scale with Purpose.”
A proud B Corp since 2022, FastTrack recertified in November 2024. Recently, the B Lab Singapore team had a conversation with Alex Olmedo and Max Ziesemer, to learn more about FastTrack and their B Corp journey.
As a purpose-driven accelerator, what ESG challenges do you aim to address?
FastTrack helps ambitious European scaleups expand into Asia faster, driving growth that aligns with their purpose. We focus on Tech-for-Better—supporting tech companies that use innovation as a force for good. By amplifying their impact in Asia, we help them fulfill a larger mission that reflects our commitment as a B Corp to create positive, lasting change.
At FastTrack, we align with the United Nations’ SDG goals, particularly Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG8) and Good Health and Well-being (SDG3). By helping businesses grow in Asia, we create new employment opportunities, directly contributing to economic growth. Our focus on health and well-being is reflected in the cultures we nurture within the companies we support. We emphasize happiness as a core business model—happy employees lead to happy customers, which drives long-term sustainability. Unlike traditional models, we prioritize our workforce’s well-being first, believing that when our team is healthy and fulfilled, they can make a greater impact and achieve their mission more effectively.
Could you share some outcomes/projects or developments that the team has been involved in?
Over the past five years, FastTrack has created employment for over 100 people across the ventures we've brought to Asia, primarily in Southeast Asia, Australia, and Japan. This is a specific contribution we’re proud of, as it directly supports economic growth and local communities in these regions. In addition to our work in business development, we are committed to sustainability. Each year, we allocate 1% of the company's proceeds to support environmental projects, ensuring that we have a tangible, positive impact on the planet.
One of our standout environmental initiatives took place earlier this year when we planted a forest in Brittany, France. Rather than outsourcing the work, we partnered with people from surrounding villages, making it a collaborative effort with FastTrack employees and local communities planting trees alongside each other.This initiative not only contributed to preserving biodiversity and regeneration of forests, but also fostered a sense of connection across borders, highlighting our commitment to global impact.
What is the next step for your organization?
FastTrack’s five-year plan is to shift towards more impact-oriented tech scaleups. Currently, our focus is on software in marketing and advertising, but we aim to prioritize companies that drive measurable social and environmental impact. We see significant momentum in Europe, with many young, fast-growing projects attracting increased investment. As these companies scale, we believe they’ll be ready for expansion into the Asia Pacific region, where we can apply our 15 years of experience helping tech scaleups succeed. While our core will always be software and tech-driven services, we’re also keen to partner with other B Corps, using B Corp certification as a key filter in selecting potential partners that are not yet in Asia.
Could you share more about your B Corp certification journey? Why did the organization embark on B Corp certification?
Our initial B Corp certification journey was really driven by Alex. He read the book "Let My People Go Surfing" by Patagonia’s founder, and that sparked an idea: to align the company with creating impact. Alex has always been personally passionate about the environment and had been pursuing various impact projects on a personal level, but I think that book inspired him to bring that passion into his professional life as well.
Could you please share some learnings or insights on your B Corp journey?
The B Corp certification helped us professionalize and institutionalize impact at FastTrack. While Alex’s personal vision and passion for environmental and social responsibility motivated us, the certification provided a structured framework to formalize our goals. The B Impact Assessment gave us a clear overview of where we stood, highlighting gaps in areas like sourcing, employee treatment, and issue resolution. This process allowed us to approach impact with greater focus and clarity, even as a small company.
One of the greatest benefits of being a B Corp is access to the network’s collective intelligence. We were able to learn from other certified companies, adopting best practices rather than reinventing the wheel. For example, we turned to the B Corp community to guide us in implementing salary transparency—an ongoing challenge for many companies—drawing on proven strategies from others within the network.
Let’s talk about happy staff. What is the mechanism or secret ingredient behind making staff happy as a certified B Corp?
At FastTrack, our core values of humility, long-term thinking, and trust align naturally with the B Corp mission. We believe in making decisions that prioritize the planet and long-term impact, rather than short-term solutions. Trust plays a key role in our culture—early on, team members are given significant responsibility and opportunities to take on diverse challenges. As a young professional, I’ve already had the kind of responsibility that would be rare in a larger company, and it’s something I truly value. This mix of close, supportive relationships and the trust to tackle tough challenges creates a culture where people grow quickly, rewarding that trust with strong results.
What kind of clients do you serve? Do you have any criteria that ensures that they have the same way of thinking as you?
At FastTrack, we believe in working with the right people, and this principle guides us every day. When evaluating potential partners, we prioritize alignment with our core values. While they don’t need to be an exact match—especially since we bring companies with diverse cultures to Asia—it’s important that there’s a strong overlap. This alignment makes collaboration smoother and more effective. Even if a partner isn’t B Corp certified yet, as long as their values align with ours, we believe they share the broader mission of B Corp, because our values already align with the certification’s principles.
How does the B Corp certification help you gain market share in Europe?
The B Corp certification is widely recognised and respected in Europe. It formally validates our commitment to creating real impact, adding credibility and authority to our work. The B Corp framework is highly professional, with a concrete structure that provides clear insights into both our strengths and areas for improvement. It also offers a strong system that we can share with partners, demonstrating our commitment to impact and our willingness to implement robust processes that align with B Corp standards.
What kind of synergy do you sense or experience do you gain from the Singapore B Corp Community through B Corp events?
The B Corp community in Singapore is incredibly vibrant and inspiring. I've met amazing people who are deeply passionate about their work, and that energy is contagious—it motivates me to do even more. The community is also very open; when I first attended, I didn’t know anyone except Prisca, but it was easy to start conversations and connect with others. It’s especially inspiring to meet fellow founders, even if they’re not potential clients, because it’s refreshing to be surrounded by like-minded individuals. We’ve also had some remarkable events, with impressive venues and hosts, which has been both humbling and motivating.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to Alex Olmedo and Max Ziesemer for sharing FastTrack's insights and inspiring perspectives. Your contributions continue to inspire the B Corp community to drive meaningful change.
Read FastTrack's Impact Report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rCaaNDr8r0lsQAE78o3F_au79JSfMUat/view
FastTrack's B Corp Profile: https://www.bcorporation.net/en-us/find-a-b-corp/company/fast-track/
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