Eco-friendly fintech Tred scores £1m from Crowdcube campaign

Green fintechs are not just here to stay, but are really starting to make a mark on the industry.

Take a look at Tred, for example. The fledgeling fintech has only been on the scene for a short while but has already attracted a host of investors in its heavily oversubscribed, and now closed, crowdfunding campaign.

Tred is hoping to change the way we think about our carbon footprints, helping users to track their carbon footprint, reduce their impact on the environment and gives customers a simple way to offset the rest.

Similar to the Bunq premium green subscription plan, every time you spend using your Tred card you help plant a tree, with all profits going towards reforestation projects based here in the UK. 

AltFi caught up with co-founders Will Smith and Pete Kirby last week just as Tred’s crowdfunding campaign hit £700,000.

“The response has been amazing,” Smith told AltFi. Tred’s campaign reached £1m on Tuesday, with over 1,000 investors participating in the fundraising effort. 

The two co-founders initially set out a target of raising £400,000 in their Crowdcube campaign, only to smash through their initial target in a matter of hours. 

Kirby continued: “I think we’ve been a bit overwhelmed by the response.”

“It’s been crazy and the reaction we’ve had from the investors so far has been so positive, but answering questions from 700 investors is a full-time job!” the co-founders chuckled.

Money raised in the crowdfunding campaign will be used to expand the fintech’s staff numbers, help build its product ahead of its upcoming launch and work on its marketing campaign as the fintech has seen most of its growth through referrals.

Tred is really sticking by its mantra of helping consumers to reduce their carbon consumption, with the young fintech offering users virtual cards out the gate with the option to order a debit card (largely made from recycled plastic) if the virtual card doesn’t work out for them.

“Think about the environmental impact of the manufacturing and delivery of that card,” Smith said.

“And we are moving further and further away from needing a physical card. There are obviously some occasions when you might still need a physical card so that’s why we’re keeping that option there.” 

Tred is currently still going through its private alpha testing stage, with nearly 3,000 people eagerly waiting to get their hands on Tred’s eco-friendly (virtual) card.

As well as bucking the trend with its eco-conscious outlook, Tred won’t be setting up its HQ in London any time soon. The two co-founders confirmed that Tred will stay true to its Northern roots, with both co-founders hailing from North Yorkshire, and set up shop in Leeds. 

“Obviously at the moment the team is entirely remote,” Kirby said, “We’ve got members on the team as far north as Newcastle and as far south as London and we’ve got people interning for us from Germany and the East Coast of America.”

“We’re trying to bring more people out of Central London and really wave the flag for Yorkshire!”

Tred’s open banking-powered, eco-friendly app is due for launch later on this year, with the money raised in the crowdfunding campaign moving the process along nicely.