How Yorkshire 'green fintech' Tred smashed its £600,000 crowdfunding target in just ten minutes

A green debit card and app company has raised more than £600,000 in crowdfunding as it smashed its latest target in ten minutes.

Leeds-based Tred sailed past its £600,000 target in just 10 minutes after launching its most recent crowdfunding campaign to the public.

Tred provides an app and debit card that enables people to measure their carbon footprint. It allows customers to see an in-depth view of the carbon emissions created with each purchase they make.

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The app helps people understand ways they can reduce their carbon footprint while also planting trees on the customer’s behalf.

Will Smith and Peter Kirby set up Tred.Will Smith and Peter Kirby set up Tred.
Will Smith and Peter Kirby set up Tred.

Will Smith, co-founder of Tred, who was recently listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 in the European Technology category, said: “Our mission here at Tred is to become the go-to green fintech offering.

“Managing your finances as well as considering your carbon emissions may seem overwhelming but it doesn’t have to be.

“Our platform lets people effortlessly manage their money, and its impact, all in one place.

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“We are thrilled with the success of the latest crowdfunding stage and the amount of investors believing in our shared vision.

“With almost 30,000 people on the waiting list, we can’t wait to roll out our app to thousands more customers later in the year.”

Tred launched the Mastercard green debit card in the UK, enabled by global payments platform Nium’s card issuing service.

Its app is now live at the Beta stage for iPhone users, with its Android app coming soon.

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The crowdfunding campaign is designed to appeal to a variety of investors with the shareholders joining high-profile investors, including the co-founder of Nutmeg and angel investors from Bridgepoint Capital.

The money raised in the crowdfunding campaign will be used to scale Tred’s user base, expand the team to support it and continue innovating the company’s climate tech.

This latest round follows a successful initial crowdfunding campaign in 2021, that far exceeded its £400,000 target, securing over £1m from more than 1,000 investors in during the course of the campaign.

Mr Smith believes that fintech “has a huge responsibility” when it comes to tackling climate change because “everything you buy has an impact on the planet”.

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“Therefore using that to give people information to help them live more sustainably is so important for the future,” he said.

Mr Smith joined forces with Peter Kirby to set up Tred. He got the idea for the business back in 2019 while dining at a restaurant and noticing plastic straws being offered with drinks.

Mr Smith says that a lot of people “wanted to live more sustainably but didn’t know where to start”.

Inspired by the rise in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing, the duo also have plans to add an investment management element to Tred.

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There are three factors to tackling climate change, according to Mr Smith.

He said: “Climate change is a huge overarching problem and no one has really cracked it.

“There are basically three pillars to it.

“One is the individual, one is businesses and one is Government.”

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