New York, November 18, 2021 – Dodo, an all-in-one platform that helps companies to rapidly measure their emissions and access green, affordable finance, has won the inaugural Climate Fintech Cards & Payments Challenge (C&P Challenge). The challenge is an initiative the global nonprofit New Energy Nexus launched to catalyze innovation across the financial sector to address climate change, with support from Barclays US Consumer Bank; Rise, created by Barclays; Mastercard; Doconomy; and Patch.
Dodo was launched by Jack Kennedy and his co-founder Csaba Szabo to enable SMEs to reduce their emissions. Dodo wins US$100,000 and the opportunity to advance their proof-of-concept projects with established financial stakeholders.
“We’re incredibly happy to win the Cards and Payments challenge and have loved working with all the sponsors and startups on the programme. Climate Fintech has the power to rapidly transform how entire industries can operate more sustainably. The partnerships that we’ve developed throughout the programme will enable us to launch Dodo to millions of SMEs across the UK,” said Jack Kennedy, Dodo’s Co-Founder and CEO.
In second place in the Challenge is Carbon Neutral Club, a membership platform that helps offsets personal carbon footprint, while in third place, two startups took the prize: Green-Got, a platform facilitating sustainable personal banking; and ecountabl, an app that allows shoppers to find purpose-led brands that align with their values.
This challenge saw cross-collaboration between multinational financial institutions, fintech leaders and startups that offer digital financial climate solutions. The C&P Challenge brought together innovators using the latest technologies and partnership models that can help inform the way we spend, the things we buy, and how payments are handled – making everyday consumption more sustainable.
“Open innovation is not easy, but during this Challenge, we’ve been thrilled by the collaboration between the startups and partners. All participants went the extra mile to examine compatibility in business model, technology, and partnership – with the common goal of empowering the green consumer,” said Aaron McCreary, Climate Fintech Lead at New Energy Nexus.
“To tackle the climate crisis, we need collective action and new ways of collaborating across the private sector, which is why we’re thrilled to support initiatives such as the Climate Fintech Cards & Payments Challenge. At Mastercard, we have a strong track record of nurturing fintech innovation and are energized by how the startup community is working to solve environmental challenges. We believe the entrepreneurs in this inaugural cohort have significant potential to make a positive impact on the industry and the planet,” said Sue Kelsey, EVP Global Product, Sustainability & Financial Inclusion at Mastercard.
“During this inaugural Climate Fintech Cards and Payments Challenge we’ve seen an incredible cohort of climate-focused entrepreneurs. As we transition to a low-carbon economy, I’m excited to see the positive, long-term impact that these fintech companies will have on our planet, in partnership with the financial services industry, through our shared ambition of improving the sustainability of customer and client journeys,” said Brian Luciani, Head of Rise New York.
“Whilst the Challenge has primarily been a magnet to bring together the next generation of climate fintech leading companies, it has also served as a creative space for the Challenge sponsors to explore collaborations. Doconomy and Patch have found a highly complementary set of product offerings that help financial institutions, brands, and their customers measure, educate, and engage their daily consumption behavior to its environmental impact,” said Tee Pruitt, Head of Business: Financial Services, Doconomy.
The Challenge welcomed an applicant pool of diverse climate fintech solutions from across digital payments, digital wallets, credit assessment, rewards, benefits, insurance, and processing infrastructure. More than 70 applicants applied from 23 countries around the world, resulting in 11 finalists from Brazil, Canada, Austria, India, The United Kingdom, and the United States.
The winner of the Cards & Payments Challenge will also be fast tracked to the selection phase of Mastercard Start Path, the company’s award-winning global startup engagement program. Through this program and across the entire Mastercard Developers portfolio, the company provides an express lane for fintech companies of all sizes to build, launch and grow. Mastercard is continuously adding programs and services to power new ways to pay, infuse trust across the payments ecosystem, and support a more inclusive, sustainable digital economy.
This initiative comes on the heels of two recently published Climate Fintech Reports, one published by New Energy Nexus and the other published by Rise – both of which help to further define the space and highlight key success stories. These reports illustrate a vast ecosystem, in part to uncover as many digital financial solutions facilitating decarbonization investment, clean energy finance, and sustainable consumer habits as possible.
About Rise, created by Barclays
Rise, created by Barclays, is a global community of the world’s top innovators working together to create the future of financial services. Our mission is to connect technology, talent and trends from across the Rise ecosystem to accelerate innovation and growth in the financial services industry. This is done by operating FinTech workspaces around the world and in a virtual community where cutting-edge startups and scale-ups can connect, create and scale their businesses, backed by Barclays’ global network of industry experts, mentors, investors and partners. For more information, visit rise.barclays.
About Barclays
Barclays US Consumer Bank is a leading co-branded credit card issuer and financial services partner in the United States that creates highly customized programs to drive customer loyalty and engagement for some of the country’s most successful travel, entertainment, retail and affinity institutions. The bank offers co-branded credit cards, small business credit cards, installment loans, POS Finance, online savings accounts, and CDs. For more information, please visit www.BarclaysUS.com.
Barclays is a British universal bank. We are diversified by business, by different types of customer and client, and geography. Our businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by our service company which provides technology, operations and functional services across the Group. For further information about Barclays, please visit www.Barclays.com.
About Mastercard
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all. For more information, visit www.mastercard.com.
About Doconomy
Doconomy, founded in Sweden in 2018, is a world-leading provider of applied impact solutions. Doconomy wants to future-proof life on planet earth by empowering individuals and corporations to take responsibility for their environmental footprint. Firmly believing that the climate crisis can only be solved as a collective, Doconomy is also a partner of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Mastercard, S&P Trucost, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
About Patch
Patch is an API-first carbon removal marketplace that enables companies to seamlessly purchase as little as a gram of carbon removal from individual projects. This micro-transaction access enables businesses of all sizes to work with carbon removal projects and neutralize emissions with the granularity required by embedded carbon removal use cases, such as carbon neutral shipping, travel, and climate positive financial services products. As an API-first platform, Patch aims to create a future where every commerce transaction—every swipe of a credit card, retail delivery, and bitcoin purchase—can have its unavoidable emissions automatically neutralized.
Notes to editors
The Cards & Payments Challenge website: https://www.cnpchallenge.com/
Climate Fintech Report by New Energy Nexus can be downloaded here
Climate FinTech Insights Report by Rise, created by Barclays can be downloaded here