About us
Swiss precision, European regulation, people at the centre. The story behind Transpareo.
Our story
The story of Transpareo begins in 2006 with an insight from our founder Günter Reichelt: “Demand for transparency about product quality will keep rising across all consumer goods.”
Out of this came Cosmetic Analysis - a platform that cosmetics manufacturers have used since its launch in 2008 to demonstrate the quality of their products transparently. Customers scan a QR code and see what is really in their cream. What began as a niche solution for one sector has, over almost two decades, grown into a proven principle: trust grows from traceability.
When the EU made the Digital Product Passport mandatory with the ESPR regulation, it was clear to us: this experience does not belong to cosmetics alone. So Transpareo was born - the same idea, a new field of application.
Cosmetic Analysis continues to run its platform for the cosmetics industry. Transpareo brings the same attitude to every regulated product category.
More on this: 20 years of product transparency as a blueprint for DPPs.
Mission
Our mission is simple: we make the Digital Product Passport the most important connection between manufacturer and customer after the purchase. Every QR code on a product becomes a landing page, every scan a potential customer contact.
The product passport of the future is not a compliance document. It is your direct line to the customer - and meets all regulatory requirements along the way.
Our values
Five principles guide every decision at Transpareo:
Transparency
Open communication, transparent pricing, no hidden costs. The name says it all.
Precision
Swiss quality in every detail. From the API documentation to customer service. A published product passport ties you in for ten years and more - which is why, once your DPPs are registered with the EU register, every DPP version is committed to an immutable Vault archive that outlasts even a cancellation.
Reliability
You can count on us - in smooth times and in challenging ones. A product passport must be reachable every day, over years. That is the standard we hold ourselves to.
Data sovereignty
Your data belongs to you. Open APIs, exportable at any time, no lock-in effects. Our open-source DPP renderer Transpareo Time Machine makes this concrete: every published DPP version is verified in the visitor’s browser - from the loaded bytes and the public keys, not from a server response.
Sustainability
The circular economy begins with knowledge: anyone who wants to repair, reuse or recycle a product needs to know what it is made of. The product passport makes exactly this knowledge accessible - for consumers, repair shops and recyclers. That is how sustainability becomes concrete: products are used for longer, materials stay in the loop.
People at the centre
Customer focus is not a department at Transpareo - it is the shared way the whole company thinks and acts. Everything we do is oriented around the actual needs of our customers. People are at the centre, not the product.
People buy where they feel understood.
We combine many years of management experience with the agility of an innovation-driven company. Proven commercial values carry us along the way: reliability, a handshake mentality - and the ambition that every customer should be not merely satisfied but delighted.
In every relationship we strive for win-win solutions: customers, partners and suppliers should experience real added value - and be glad to actively recommend us. We select our team by this attitude too: people with an entrepreneurial mindset who think in solutions, not in limits. The same applies to our use of artificial intelligence: quality for our customers always comes first, efficiency only after. Where AI creates no quality, we do not use it.
Loyalty, trust and transparency form the foundation of all our relationships - internal and external alike.
Swissness in practice
Transpareo lives Swissness: fairness, precision, reliability, entrepreneurial stability and naturalness are not buzzwords but the culture in which this platform takes shape - set down in our binding company mission statement.
We feel Swiss and European - deliberately not EU-affiliated, which is a difference. Made in Switzerland, made in Europe. As a neutral location, Switzerland ensures that product passports remain reliably available across politics, countries and world regions. And as a non-EU country with bilateral agreements, we understand EU regulation from the perspective of a third country - an advantage for customers inside and outside the EU.
Swiss and European value creation
For us, trust grows from fully Swiss and European development, infrastructure and data storage - every technical decision follows this standard:
- Development happens exclusively in Switzerland, with no nearshore or offshore development.
- Customer systems run in ISO 27001-certified data centres in Germany.
- AI translations run via a German provider - with no detour through non-European services.
- Internally too, we work with tools from Switzerland, Germany and Europe.
- No dependence on US-American or Asian cloud providers, no hidden data flows.
Data protection and privacy
Your data and that of your visitors stays with us: no trackers, no third-party analytics services, no data collection via external services. We set cookies only where they are technically necessary (for example for login) - which is why this website does without a cookie banner. The GDPR and the Swiss Data Protection Act (DSG) are authoritative for us. Specialised AI processes regularly test the platform with penetration tests.
Built to last
Transpareo has been 100% self-financed from day one - with no external capital and no investors working towards a sale.
This independence is secured for the long term: 51% of the share capital of Transpareo AG is held by the non-profit Transpareo Foundation in Liechtenstein. The foundation is subject to the Foundation Supervisory Authority (STIFA) of the Principality of Liechtenstein, which ensures that the foundation’s assets are managed and used in accordance with their purpose.
A foundation cannot sell off its assets - it has to nurture them. The majority stake in the company can therefore never change hands: the existence of Transpareo and long-term access to your product passports are structurally secured.
Responsibility for society and education
Transparency and sustainability should not depend on the size of a budget. Non-profit organisations and educational institutions do valuable work for society and the environment - often with scarce means.
That is why we make access to Transpareo available free of charge to social organisations, schools and universities. So they too document products transparently, work with real Digital Product Passports in their teaching, and convey sustainability through a concrete example.
Are you involved in the social sector or in education? Write to us. We cover the usage fee.
Get to know us
Do you have questions or would you like a personal demo? We look forward to the conversation.