VYLD: Steward Ownership

What if your company structure was as sustainable as your product?

VYLD set out to make the world's first seaweed tampon – radically sustainable, healthy, and fully degradable.

But founders Ines Schiller and Melanie Schichan didn't stop at the product. They asked a harder question: 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴?

Their answer was steward-ownership.

From day one, VYLD structured their financing with a future transition in mind – combining investors and crowdfunding, and later converting their financial instruments into profit participation certificates. The result? Investment that counts as equity without selling shares, unlocking access to subsidies and bank loans – while keeping mission and ownership intact.

By late 2022, VYLD had formally transitioned into steward-ownership using a golden share model.

As Ines Schiller puts it: "𝘐𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦."

A reminder that the future of business isn't just about what you make – it's about how you own it, govern it, and for whom.

🔗 Read the full case study via PURPOSE