FinTechs going green is a popular subject among investors, startups, software development specialists, and users alike. Sustainable FinTech companies are not a buzzphrase anymore. It’s a strong trend that grows and fuels another revolution in the finance world. A green one; literally and figuratively speaking.

Green FinTech companies

Naturally, business is about money. However, it can be about so much more. Some products build their brands on values and fit into a more ecological state of mind. Green startups can serve people while being operational and profitable. Here’s our list of top green FinTech companies to watch.

Top green FinTech companies

  • Stripe Climate. This is a special service launched by Stripe, a giant of the payments and payouts market. With their new idea, businesses can finance projects dedicated to carbon removal. Whenever you are, whatever you do, you commit a fraction of your revenue to the cause. Gathered money will finance technologies that make Earth more climate neutral. Contributing companies get a green badge that can highlight to their clients.
  • TreeCard. This is a project based on a credit card. A wooden credit card, to be exact. The idea is not only to eliminate plastic but also to reforest the planet. The project is based on interchange that merchants pay for accepting card payments. It’s a standard fee in retail. It’s how credit card operators make money. Normally, this money will be profit. In this situation, 80% of them go to the initiatives dedicated to planting trees. Users can track their spendings, refer friends and see how many trees they have already planted with their money.
  • Raise Green. That’s global initiatives, what about local ones? There’s an app for that. Raise Green enables the search of your local area for green businesses. You can have micro-ownership of these projects, supporting firms and the cause at the same time. Green startups often start on their own but this one is powered by IBM. Both companies joined forces and built an impactful marketplace. Literally: Raise Green is transparent and lets you see how much kWh of clean energy has been produced by your investments.
  • Joro. This interesting app is driven by an even more interesting claim: “build a solution as big as the problem”. By partnering up with Plaid, Joro aims to highlight carbon emissions and bring it down to earth. Every user can see their environmental footprint. Each spending is translated into an individual impact. Using decades of eco research and complicated algorithms, the product can steer people towards more conscious decisions.
  • Trine. It’s a good example of how green finance companies use marketing and clever one-liners to shine a light on the green economy and their products at the same time. “For people, for planet, for profit” does just that. Trine uses a peer-to-peer (P2P) business loan platform to power solar energy projects. Individual investors can add to the pool for as little as $25. Already, there are more than 11,000 contributing private investors.
  • Aspiration. Supported by Robert Downey jr., this challenger bank focuses on reforestation and builds an alternative retirement system. Individual Retirement Account or IRA is constructed to build a safety net for the future and save on taxes. Coupled with the “every portion of payments goes for planting trees” system, the app has a pretty compelling value proposition.
  • Miris. A very interesting Norwegian take on tracking finance flows. Miris established something called the Green Finance Framework. It’s a method for selecting, tracking, and reporting the flows of funds in various financial projects. The framework is in line and built around components of the Green Bond Principles (GBP) created by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). The platform locates funds but also invests them. Into energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean transportation, and other projects.
  • Treelion. One of the most interesting sustainable FinTech companies out there. Treelion has a blockchain-based solution that brings a decentralized network to launch and manage green digital products of all kinds. The product is dedicated to the enablement of green economy capital flows and the creation of large-scale green digital ecosystems.
  • Cooler Future. The future can be cool. Or cooler. Or both, if you think about it. This company is one among many environmental FinTech companies but it has something others don’t. A way to finance green initiatives and make money for investors. They can support companies they like and trust. At the same time, monitor them for CO2 usage.
  • Doconomy. It’s a digital bank that aims to change behavioral patterns towards a more green future. Many top green FinTech companies use their product or their philosophy at the start of the webpage. Doconomy opens with a calm start screen and messaging straight out of the social impact group. You would not think it has to do with a digital bank of FinTech at all. It’s an interesting take on how FinTechs can inform about their goals and position themselves among other financial solutions out there. 
  • MioTech. The company is utilizing artificial intelligence (A.I.) to solve climate change and social responsibility issues. By delivering ESG data to financial institutions, it helps them make self-aware decisions on their policies moving forward. Therefore, it helps in ESG reporting, energy efficiency, and more.
  • Powerledger. It’s an innovative company from Australia that developed a blockchain-enabled energy and environmental commodity trading platform. Powerledger helps to transact energy, trade environmental commodities and invest in renewables. It has created software that enables peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading from solar rooftop panels.
  • CO2X. The idea behind the platform is simple. CO2X is developing a solution that will provide local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with accessible carbon tracking solutions and green financial services through a data-driven approach.

Environmental FinTech companies need support

Support can take many forms. As we have mentioned before green finance companies have a long way to go before they become profitable. One of the most important phases of creating this kind of FinTech, even more than a regular one, is compliance. Proper implementation of all regulations there. Open banking is a way to reach people’s minds and wallets but the initial stage is always about proper software development

At the end of 2020, we have made a list of top FinTech companies to watch in 2021. Vibrant, energetic, and successful. Who knows, maybe in the near future we will make another one. For the most trustful and successful green finance companies for 2022. Maybe your startup will be among them?