The UK firm has raised $30M (roughly €28.7M) in funding to this point. Treecard says it would deploy the capital to develop the group, aiming to nearly double in measurement and proceed to develop the product forward of the official launch in 2023. 

Jamie Cox, co-founder and CEO at Treecard says, “We’ve all the time believed that if there have been a button that would make your life extra sustainable, then individuals would press it. There’s a want, and an pressing want, to be extra sustainable, however too usually, individuals don’t know the place to start out or aren’t positive about the suitable strategy to go about it. Treecard is right here to offer that help. First, by serving to individuals develop into extra sustainable of their monetary lives, together with planting bushes with purchases, and finally extending to all points of their life-style. By way of this, we’re making it simpler than ever for individuals to scale back their carbon footprint so we might help extra individuals embrace this journey. We’re excited to have the backing of Valar Ventures and World Fund as we glance to construct the final word environmental tremendous app for thousands and thousands of individuals the world over.” 

Treecard: What you might want to know

Based in 2020 by Jamie Cox and James Dugan, Treecard is an impact-first enterprise on a mission to plant 1B bushes. 

The corporate’s wood Mastercard Debit Card channels 80 per cent of the income earned from service provider transaction charges into tree planting. 

At any time when a Treecard buyer swipes or faucets their card, they’re serving to to finance the planting of bushes worldwide. 

Customers also can monitor their forest by way of the Treecard app and watch when new bushes are going into the bottom on the TreeCam. 

Treecard claims to have funded the planting of over 200,000 bushes globally in partnership with Ecosia, the not-for-profit search engine that makes use of promoting income to plant bushes.

Moreover, the app makes use of gamification strategies and a rewards programme, enabling individuals to entry unique offers and provides, reminiscent of free Nationwide Park passes, after spending a certain quantity.

The corporate’s customers have additionally eliminated 315,000 plastic bottles from the ocean by way of the app’s rewards programme. At present, it’s in beta with a worldwide waitlist of over 250,000.

The corporate additionally clarified that it will by no means fund fossil fuels or deforestation utilizing its accounts. 

Traders

Valar Ventures is a VC agency backed by Peter Thiel and focuses on startups outdoors Silicon Valley. 

James Fitzgerald, founding companion at Valar Ventures, says, “Within the final decade, we’ve witnessed the power of fintech corporations to behave as a robust drive for good, for instance, by effecting constructive change in monetary inclusion and the democratisation of alternative. We’re excited to see Treecard harness this energy to allow individuals to make extra sustainable and environmentally accountable monetary selections.”

World Fund is a European-focused local weather enterprise capital fund. From power, meals, agriculture, and land use, to constructing supplies, manufacturing, and transport, World Fund invests in European local weather tech with a local weather efficiency potential (CPP) of no less than 100Mt CO2e emission financial savings per yr.

Tim Schumacher, founding companion at World Fund, says, “The Treecard group is constructing a superb product that can assist rework the way in which individuals take into consideration their carbon footprint. Nevertheless, it’s not sufficient to supply carbon offsets, if we’re going to succeed in the goal of limiting international warming by 2030, then sustained, complete motion is required. Utilizing interchange income to plant bushes is one in all them, because it drives significant change throughout all areas of a buyer’s life. We’re delighted to be supporting Jamie and the remainder of the Treecard group on the following stage of their journey as they appear to construct the main environmental tremendous app.”