A fintech startup named Treecard is based in London. They use a partnership with Berlin-based Ecosia to sell sustainable and climate-friendly lifestyle advice via a wooden debit card. The company recently raised over €22 million for their idea.
If we want to achieve climate change and net zero goals, we need to embrace sustainable living as a fundamental part of our culture. Many people are starting to realize this, and more are becoming aware of the direct correlation between climate change and their everyday lives. As the word “sustainable” continues to grow in popularity and importance, people are slowly but surely changing their habits in order to live in a more environmentally friendly manner.
There’s a push to create environmentally friendly businesses and the planet at the same time. This results in a large cost associated with sustainable choices, as well as greenwashing. This has resulted in people not understanding how to access sustainable options.
Treecard is a green fintech startup located in London. The startup’s mission is to provide sustainable and green financial solutions; it’s currently in the process of expanding after recently securing new funding.
The Deal Details
The €22 million were raised in a Series A funding round led by Valar Ventures. World Fund also participated in the round, along with previous investors EQT Ventures, Seedcamp and Episode 1 as well as angel investors Dylan Field (Figma) and Josh Browder (DoNotPay).
Treecard will use the funding to grow the team, with the aim to almost double in size, as well as continue to develop the product ahead of the official launch in 2023.
The Treecard App
Treecard was founded in 2020. Its mission is to make sustainable living choices easier for people to make. The startup offers a wooden debit card that uses a partnership with Berlin-based Ecosia to plant trees while people use it.
Recent studies show that a large percentage of the world’s population has increased their sustainability tendencies over the last five years. This change in behavior is prevalent across all countries and Most people switch their behavior due to the growing environmental awareness trend.
Treecard wants to encourage daily climate action by providing users with a tangible way to do so.
The startup’s wooden debit card sits on top of a customer’s existing bank account. When customers use the card to make a transaction, 80% of the profits from the transaction go into a tree planting fund. Customers don’t need to pay monthly fees or foreign currency fees; instead, they pay loading fees and no fees. Additionally, using the card has a 3% APY— higher than any other debit card.
Treecard is a fundraising card program focused on financing tree planting across the world. Whenever customers use the app, swipe their card, or tap their card to make a purchase, they are funding new plantings. Users can keep track of these changes through the TreeCard app and can watch live footage of new tree plants being made through the TreeCam. By encouraging people to make changes in their lives without relying on unproven methods of solving the climate crisis, such as carbon offsets, Treecard encourages people to make a real difference in the world.
People wanting to take part in the carbon market can choose from two different options. One is Treecard’s transparent, visible system that eliminates greenwashing allegations in the carbon market. The other is standard carbon trading, where there is debate over the effectiveness of the process.
Tim Schumacher, founder of World Fund, praised the Treecard team for creating a smart environmental product. Their goal of reducing global warming by 2030 requires more than just offsetting carbon footprints with carbon credits. Instead, they’ll need comprehensive environmental action. The leading environmental super app is currently being created by Jamie and his team at Treecard. One of the many things they’re doing to make this app a reality is using profits from interchange to plant trees around the world. Another is improving the lives of everyone who uses the app. We’re proud to be a partner in this next step of their journey.
The app’s creators want to make sure that users’ money is not spent funding deforestation or fossil fuel production. They also use gamification techniques and a rewards program in order to encourage people to learn more about their finances and the environmental impact they’re making. Another goal of the app is to show people where they could be spending less to reduce their overall ecological footprint.
The overarching vision is to better educate and empower people about climate action by removing control from the hands of the masses and placing it back in the hands of the people. This is intended to empower people to make decisions about climate change by literally putting their money where their mouth is.
Treecard aims to become an ecological super app. It’s a project that wants to establish sustainable features beyond finance. These features will help the app provide people with advice and information on how to become more sustainable in the easiest ways possible. It will also create a comprehensive Earth-minded app that people can invest in for the future.
In partnership with Ecosia, a not-for-profit search engine that funds tree plantings, Treecard users have removed over 315,000 plastic bottles from the ocean. Over 200,000 trees — around 490 football fields worth — have been planted worldwide as part of the beta version of the app. Additionally, a global waitlist of over 250,000 people has been created for the current beta release.
The startup plans to launch a product in 2023 with additional funding. Additional funding will help them expand their team, design new features for their product, and increase the scope of their mission.
