Aiven Modern Slavery Statement

Introduction

Aiven Oy was founded in 2016 in Helsinki, Finland. Doing business in an ethical way has always been Aiven’s ambition. Aiven operates with integrity and expects the same from its partners. In this statement, the company’s good intentions are put into action. Aiven will not only take steps to identify modern slavery risks in our business, but will execute concrete measures to reduce and eliminate these risks.

Aiven has adopted this statement pursuant to the United Kingdom Modern Slavery Act of 2015 and the Australia Modern Slavery Act of 2018. The statement concerns Aiven Oy and its wholly owned subsidiaries (referred to collectively as “Aiven”). The entity preparing this statement is Aiven Oy. The Board of Directors of Aiven Oy has approved the statement on 6 November 2024.

Our business

Aiven provides a fully managed cloud data platform for a wide variety of open source data technologies on all major clouds. Its service enables developers to build software-as-a-service (SaaS) and next-generation applications quickly and securely. Through this, Aiven helps its customers reduce the time and costs spent on managing data infrastructure.

With its headquarters located in Helsinki, Finland, Aiven also maintains offices in Berlin, Paris, London, Austin, Toronto, Sydney and Auckland. As an international company with over 350 employees worldwide, Aiven prioritizes compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and industry best practices. To ensure this, the company’s internal policies are crafted to adhere to both legal standards and high ethical principles, fostering a culture of compliance and integrity throughout the organization.

Our policies

Aiven is committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery in its supply chains or in any part of its business. In addition to this statement, several of the company’s current policies and processes contribute to the governance of combating modern slavery and human trafficking, including but not limited to the following:

• Aiven values of ownership, openness and courage demonstrate the company’s willingness to take responsibility for its actions and to acknowledge and correct its errors.
• In the Aiven Code of Conduct, the company expresses its commitment to human rights, avoiding complicity in any human rights abuse, respecting employment laws and employees’ right to organize, and we condemn all child labor and forced labor.
• More detailed employment policies of the company echo these commitments and aim for the highest level of employee protection.
• Employees at Aiven are encouraged to be critical and to speak up if they see something that seems illegal, wrongful or unethical – to support this, the company’s Whistleblower Protection Policy enables anonymous reporting.
• Aiven seeks to minimize risks relating to human rights violations through its policies regarding high-risk jurisdictions, for example through the International Sanctions and Trade Restriction policy, and ensure that these considerations are taken into account when Aiven expands to new areas.
• The policies relating to Anti-Corruption and Bribery and the supplier management process guide the company to work with accountable, compliant and socially responsible partners.
• Aiven’s Sustainability and Social Impact Commitment also contributes towards similar goals as combating modern slavery by increasing the transparency of our supply chains.

Risk assessment of our activities

Aiven operates in a sector where the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking is relatively low. In its business, being able to attract qualified talent is critical, so Aiven makes sure to maintain attractive and fair working conditions.

Aiven also acknowledges that modern slavery risks can be higher in certain jurisdictions. Therefore, the company focuses its offices and employees in democratically governed jurisdictions with high levels of accountability and responsivity to modern slavery risks.

In Aiven’s supply chain, the most critical suppliers are the major public cloud service providers, all of which have comprehensive modern slavery policies. The cloud sector is not subject to heightened modern slavery risks. Meanwhile, Aiven’s less essential suppliers may also come from industries that are more exposed to human rights risks, including the hospitality and textile industries.

Aiven recognizes that modern slavery and human trafficking are among the most serious human rights violations in modern society. They affect tens of millions of victims around the world annually. Therefore, Aiven takes even the smallest risks seriously. To date Aiven has not detected modern slavery violations in its business and has also not been subject to accusations of such.

Our supplier due diligence

Aiven’s aim is to work exclusively with suppliers and partners who hold up to the company’s values and Code of Conduct. Aiven requires that its employees use the company’s resources responsibly and in line with the company’s ethical standards. This is enforced by the company’s mandatory spend guidelines and supplier management process. Although Aiven mainly focuses on legal, security and privacy compliance, suppliers who fulfill our compliance requirements also typically adhere to more comprehensive human rights standards.

When purchasing company merchandise, Aiven pays particular attention to quality, sustainability and human rights accountability, especially regarding modern slavery risks such as forced or child labor. AIven also prioritizes local sourcing, which helps to keep the supply chain transparent.

Our commitment, remedial actions and their effectiveness

Aiven condemns all forms of slavery and human trafficking. The company is committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in any parts of its business nor our supply chains.

During the current and following fiscal year, Aiven’s commitment is to improve awareness, policies and procedures to minimize the risk of violations through the following steps:

1. Aiven will establish a Supplier Code of Conduct to outline our expectations for suppliers who provide goods or services to Aiven. The company expects its suppliers to share our values and uphold the same standards in their operations.
2. Aiven will establish guidance on how to evaluate whether a supplier complies with its standard of combating modern slavery. Possible external service providers that could be used in the vetting process shall also be sought out.
3. Training on the topic will be made available to relevant employees, particularly those involved in procurement and supply chain management, to help them identify and address issues related to modern slavery.
4. If any concerns or allegations arise relating to human trafficking and/or slavery against any of Aiven’s current suppliers, the company will act immediately. Where evidence of such violations is presented, Aiven will reevaluate our relationship with the relevant supplier and contact the competent authorities where applicable.

This statement will be reviewed and updated annually. Aiven is dedicated to continuously improving its processes to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking. Aiven will continue to review and update its policies and procedures to ensure that they remain effective and aligned with best practices in ethical business operations.

This statement is signed by an authorized representative of Aiven Oy on 6 November 2024.