Connect Earth Archives

Celebrating Earth Day: Finovate Alums Champion Sustainability

By David Penn Posted on April 22, 2025
Categories: Alumni profile, ClimateTrade, Cloverly, Connect Earth, ecolytiq, Energy Shares, Green Portfolio, Little Blocks

Today is Earth Day. Established in 1970, the holiday is widely recognized as the start of the modern environmental movement. First proposed by peace activist John McConnell in 1969, the holiday has grown into an international commemoration with millions of participants all over the world.

In fintech and financial services, many companies have developed solutions to help banks, financial services firms, and their customers deal with issues such as climate change and environmental sustainability. From carbon tracking to investing in sustainable industries, these innovators are helping companies and individuals better understand the impact of their actions on the environment and, importantly, are showing them specific ways they can take action.

Finovate has been proud to showcase many of these companies in recent years. As part of our Earth Day celebration, we’re featuring below some of these innovators as well as the technologies they have brought to market to promote sustainability and minimize negative impacts on the climate.

ClimateTrade

Headquartered in Valencia, Spain and Miami, Florida, ClimateTrade is a climate tech company that leverages innovative technology—including a blockchain-based climate marketplace—to support large-scale decarbonization.

Founded in 2018, ClimateTrade made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023. Francisco Benedito is Co-Founder and CEO.

Cloverly

Cloverly is a climate action platform that provides solutions to help buyers and sellers of carbon credits, connect, transact, and scale their impact. The company’s API enables companies to embed climate action into their own customer’s digital experiences.

Cloverly made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2023 and returned later that year for FinovateFall. The company was founded in 2018 and is based in Atlanta, Georgia. Jason Rubottom is CEO.

Connect Earth

Connect Earth is an environmental data startup that democratizes access to sustainability data. The company offers carbon tracking API technology, Connect Insights, that financial institutions can embed in their apps to provide customers with a carbon impact estimate for every spend-based transaction.

Headquartered in London, Connect Earth made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023 and returned to the Finovate stage in New York later in the year for FinovateFall. The company was founded in 2021. Alexander Lempka is Co-Founder and CEO.

ecolytiq

ecolytiq offers a Sustainability-as-a-Service solution that uses payment transactions to calculate individual environmental impacts, including CO2 footprint.

Berlin, Germany-based ecolytiq participated in Finovate’s developer conference, FinDEVr 2021. The company was founded in 2020. David Lais is Co-Founder and Managing Director.

Energy Shares

Energy Shares is a FINRA-registered, broker-dealer and equity crowdfunding platform for utility-scale, renewable energy projects throughout the US. The company’s platform expands access to investment opportunities in the renewable energy space that have historically been available only to institutional, corporate, and other privileged investors.

Energy Shares made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2022 in New York. Headquartered in Pasadena, California, the company was founded in 2021. Daniel Kim is Founder and CEO.

Green Portfolio

Green Portfolio offers a climate-first, AI-powered scoring system and platform that enables individuals to align their investing and banking decisions with their attitudes toward environmental sustainability and climate change.

Green Portfolio made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2023. Founded in 2020, the company is headquartered in New York. Bonnie Gurry is Co-Founder and CEO.

Little Blocks

Little Blocks is a fintech platform for micro-, small-, and medium-sized (MSME) manufacturers built around industrial IoT data. The firm helps companies secure access to risk capital for machinery upgrades that make factories more productive while minimizing environmental costs and impacts.

Making its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023, Little Blocks was founded in 2022. Based in Hyderabad, India, the company was co-founded by CEO Hanu Panchakarla.

Photo by Valentin Antonucci

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Finovate Global: Showcasing International Alums at FinovateFall

By David Penn Posted on September 1, 2023
Categories: Connect Earth, Engage People, eSelf.AI, Finovate Global, FinovateFall 2023, FinTech Insights by Scientia, Flybits, Fundica, Jaid, LemonadeLXP, MacroMicro, NayaOne, SESAMm, Zero Bank Design Factory

FinovateFall is right around the corner (September 11 through September 13). If you still haven’t registered for our annual autumn fintech conference in New York this month, there’s no better time than the present. Visit our FinovateFall 2023 hub today and save your spot.

This week’s edition of Finovate Global highlights companies headquartered outside of the U.S. that will be demoing their latest innovations on the Finovate stage in just a few days. Get to know them here, then join them in New York live and in person for FinovateFall!

Connect Earth

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in the United Kingdom, Connect Earth enables financial institutions to offer their retail and SME customers insights into the environmental impact of their spending. LinkedIn.

Engage People

Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Engage People is a loyalty network that enables program members to pay with points directly at checkout. The company was founded in 2015. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).

eSelf

eSelf is building the next generation of client-financial institution interaction, enabling human-like conversations and efficient personalization. Founded in 2022, eSelf is headquartered in Israel.

FinTech Insights

Fintech Insights offers a comprehensive digital banking research platform. The company’s technology helps FIs build strategies and launch new features faster. Headquartered in London, the company was founded in 2010. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).

Flybits

Founded in 2013, Flybits enables FIs to deliver personalized digital banking experiences across mobile, web, and the Metaverse. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).

Fundica

Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Fundica is a government funding platform used by some of the largest FIs in North America to acquire and retain clients at scale. Fundica was founded in 2017. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).

Jaid

Jaid is an AI-powered platform build to enable the intelligent automation of business communications. Founded in 2018, Jaid is based in London, U.K. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).

LemonadeLXP

Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, LemonadeLXP is a digital growth platform that helps FIs and fintechs create effective training and support tools to maximize their investment in their technology. The company was founded in 2019. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).

MacroMicro

Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, MacroMicro empowers over three million investors worldwide to make personalized investment decisions through dynamic and insightful charts. X (Twitter).

NayaOne

NayaOne gives banks a single point of access to hundreds of fintechs, digital sandboxes, fintech-as-a-service offerings, and datasets. Headquartered in London, U.K., NayaOne was founded in 2019. LinkedIn.

SESAMm

Headquartered in Metz, France, and founded in 2014, SESAMm is an AI insight and ESG risk detection specialist serving the financial services industry. LinkedIn. X (Twitter).

Zero Bank Design Factory

Zero Bank Design Factory is developing and operating a banking system for Japan’s first digital bank, Minna Bank. Founded in 2019, the company is headquartered in Fukuoka, Japan. X (Twitter).

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

India-based PhonePe Wealth Broking, a subsidiary of mobile payments app PhonePe, launched a stock broking app, Share.Market.
Pakistan’s Daily Times featured a look at the future of fintechs in the country.
A new report from Elevation Capital and McKinsey India indicated that India’s fintech ecosystem could reach $70 billion in annual revenue by fiscal year 2030.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Google announced an integration with Nu’s Moradita Credit cards that will expand the reach of Google Wallet to Colombia.
Latin American card provider Clara launched cross-border transactions.
Mexican fintech Klar secured a $100 million credit line to help expand its business in the country.

Asia-Pacific

Vietnam-based fintech MFast secured $6 million in Series A funding in a round led by Wavemaker Partners.
Singaporean payment system provider Qashier raised $10 million in Series A funding.
Alipay+ announced an expansion into South Korea as part of a collaboration with Korea Easy Payment Foundation, operator of e-wallet ZeroPay.

Sub-Saharan Africa

South Africa’s TymeBank announced an integration of the country’s payment system, PayShap.
Uganda-based fintech Asaak acquired Mexican startup, FlexClub.
Moniepoint secured green light to acquire Kenyan payments company Kopo Kopo.

Central and Eastern Europe

Contract automation platform PandaDoc acquired Berlin-based fintech Denario.
Lithuanian regtech iDenfy announced a partnership with furniture rental platform Everset.
German instant bank payments company Ivy raised $20 million in Series A funding.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Islamic banking solutions provider aiBANK teamed up with Visa to provide e-payment services in Egypt.
Dubai-based financial wellness platform MALY secured $1.6 billion in pre-seed funding.
Egyptian fintech HEDG announced a “six-figure” pre-seed funding round from undisclosed Egyptian and Saudi Arabian investors.

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FinovateFall 2023 Sneak Peek: Connect Earth

By Madeline Clines Posted on August 8, 2023
Categories: Connect Earth, FinovateFall 2023, FinovateFall 2023 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.

Connect Earth supports financial institutions in offering its retail and SME customers insights into the climate impact of their spending.

Features

Provides carbon footprint estimates based on spending
Includes CO2 analytics and chart breakdowns to better understand one’s carbon footprint
Delivers educational insights to enable action and engagement

Why it’s great

Financed emissions are 700 times greater than a bank’s direct emissions. By funding and investing in other businesses, indirect emissions become attributable to the financial institution.

Presenter

Alexander Lempka, Co-Founder & CEO
Lempka co-founded Connect Earth by combining his experience in fintech with a passion for sustainability.
LinkedIn

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Connect Earth Lands $5.6 Million in Seed Funding

By David Penn Posted on March 28, 2023
Categories: Alumni News, Connect Earth, Daily news, Funding

U.K.-based Connect Earth landed $5.6 million (£4.65 million) in seed funding this week.
The company, founded in 2021, offers a carbon tracking API to help financial institutions access sustainability data.
Connect Earth made its Finovate debut in March at FinovateEurope in London.

Connect Earth, an environmental data company based in the U.K., has landed $5.6 million (£4.65 million) in seed funding. The startup, founded in 2021, will use the capital to accelerate its expansion among large enterprises in the U.S. and Europe. Connect Earth noted that it has already begun working with financial institutions like KBC Bank and strategic partners like FIS Global.

“We are delighted to have secured this investment, which will enable us to significantly increase our capacity for working with new partners around the world,” Connect Earth co-founder and CTO Nick Carmont said. “Connect Earth has the potential to make a huge impact on the financial sector and this investment will accelerate our ambitions to become the environmental data backbone of financial services across the globe.

The funding round was led by Gresham House Ventures. Also participating were Love Ventures, Global Brain, The Norinchukin Bank, Portfolio Ventures, and Super Capital VC, as well as strategic angel investors. Existing investors Market One Capital, Mustard Seed MAZE, and Venista Ventures were also involved in the round.

Connect Earth enables businesses to gain critical insights into the climate impact of their spending and investment decisions. The company’s carbon tracking API helps democratize access to sustainability data, empowering individuals and institutions alike to make sustainable choices. Connect Earth’s API can be embedded into financial institutions’ mobile apps to provide carbon footprint estimates for every spend-based transaction. This, according to Connect Earth, helps “bridge the gap between intent, knowledge, and action” when it comes to meeting sustainability goals.

Since the beginning of 2022, Connect Earth has estimated carbon emissions for more than 500 million financial transactions. Partner KBC Bank noted that it saw an increase in customer engagement of 2% and an increase in customer environmental awareness of 20% within the first two months of integrating Connect Earth’s API within its mobile app.

In a statement on the Connect Earth blog, Carmont added that the company also plans to launch “several new products that will break down the barriers to accessing environmental data and tools.” Connect Earth recently announced the launch of Connect Invest, an API solution that provides carbon emissions estimates for stock and share investments.

Connect Earth’s funding announcement – and recent new product – come at an opportune time. In the same Connect Earth blog post, Gresham House Ventures Associate Director Benjamin Faulkner noted that Connect Earth may benefit from “extensive regulatory tailwinds such as TCFD and SFDR” which mandate that financial institutions improve disclosure of their carbon footprints. Accompanying the investment, Gresham House Ventures’ Steward Holness will join Connect Earth’s board of directors.

Connect Earth made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2023 earlier this month in London.

Photo by Vanessa Loring

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FinovateEurope 2023 Sneak Peek: Connect Earth

By Madeline Clines Posted on February 21, 2023
Categories: Connect Earth, FinovateEurope 2023, FinovateEurope 2023 Sneak Peek

A look at the companies demoing at FinovateEurope in London on March 14. Register today and save your spot.

Connect Earth supports financial institutions in offering customers transparent insights into the climate impact of daily spending.

Features

Includes carbon emissions data estimates for every spend-based transaction
Provides calculations with maximum granularity
Delivers actionable insights and tips to put knowledge into practice

Why it’s great

Every transaction is a climate transaction. Financial services can be a catalyst for change.

Presenter

Alexander Lempka, Co-Founder & CEO
In 2021, Lempka co-founded Connect Earth by combining his experience in fintech with his passion for sustainability.
LinkedIn

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