Connect Earth’s platform turns complex carbon data into clear insights – helping banks, fintechs and their customers make more sustainable choices.
See our guide to this year’s hottest new businesses and most exceptional founders in the complete 2026 Startups 100 index.
Founder: Alexander Lempka
Year founded: 2021
Website: connect.earth
In the age of climate change and with the shift towards sustainability, banks and fintechs are under growing pressure to support the transition to a greener economy.
The problem is that taking action is easier said than done, as accessing usable carbon data is notoriously complicated and expensive.
This is something founder Alexander Lempka discovered first-hand when working in sustainability. While many companies were willing to integrate sustainability into their products, they simply didn’t have the tools and resources to do so.
And then came Lempka’s “eureka” moment. If carbon data could be simplified and made accessible through Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), millions of people and businesses could finally understand and reduce their environmental impact.
And so, Connect Earth was launched – offering a platform that helps banks and fintechs measure, understand, and act on the carbon footprint of their customers’ spending.
By embedding its API into existing apps, the platform converts transaction data into estimated carbon emissions and provides actionable insights – such as personalised action plans and risk reduction forecasts – to help users make more sustainable choices.
While securing confidence in a highly regulated market was tough, Lempka stuck to his guns and focused on building trust with regulators, banks, and venture capitalists – winning partnerships with some of the world’s largest financial institutions, including KBC Bank, Raiffeisenbank, and fellow Startups 100 honouree, Tide.
So what’s next? Connect Earth’s plan is to provide the default infrastructure layer that embeds environmental insights into every financial decision made by consumers, SMEs, and investors – or put more simply, to become the “Plaid of Sustainability”.
We look forward to seeing this planet-friendly startup transform how the world factors climate into everyday financial decisions.
View the full Startups 100 Index for 2026
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