89. ekko: meet the fintech making your spending eco-friendly

Founder: Oli Cook, Simon Toller, and Manish Vara
Year founded: 2019
Website: ekko.earth

While many of us want to be more sustainable, some find it difficult to make a real impact in their daily lives – particularly in a way that is easy and measurable. Businesses also struggle to engage customers on sustainability while meeting profit margins.

Ekko is a fintech platform that empowers firms and users to drive environmental impact by integrating sustainability into daily financial transactions, turning payments into a force for good.

Ekko’s target audience includes financial institutions, payment providers and consumer-facing businesses that are looking to integrate sustainability into their offerings. It also focuses on environmentally conscious consumers, ESG investors and organisations prioritising green finance and sustainable business practices.

The achievement we’re most proud of from the last financial year was successfully launching ekko’s platform and seeing our vision come to life,

Unlike competitors, ekko offers a profit-sharing model that allows firms to generate revenue while driving positive environmental change. The platform requires no changes to core infrastructure which enables quick deployment. Its partnerships with environmental organisations also ensure every transaction contributes to verifiable, impactful sustainable efforts.

The startup has established key partnerships with leading environmental organisations like RSPB and Prevented Ocean Plastics, as well as payment providers like Returnal, Primis, and Volt. In May 2024, ekko raised $2.5m in venture capital in a round led by Fuel Ventures and supported by Sorven Partners and Mishcon de Reya.

“The achievement we’re most proud of from the last financial year was successfully launching ekko’s platform and seeing our vision come to life,” says Cook. “Watching the first wave of consumers compensate for their carbon footprints and contribute to vital environmental projects was an incredibly rewarding moment.”

In the next five years, the ekko team is on a mission to become a global leader in sustainable finance, partnering with major financial institutions, payment providers and businesses worldwide to make climate action a standard part of every financial transaction. With ekko, it pays to be more sustainable.