Exclusive: Climate fintech Future raises a $5.3M funding round

Future, a climate-focused fintech, has raised $5.3 million in a seed funding round led by VC firm Accomplice, Axios exclusively reports.

Why it matters: The company blends fintech with climate tech by giving users cash incentives for lowering their carbon footprint.

Details: Future was founded last fall by Jean-Louis Warnholz and Kamal Bhattacharya, who both spent time building infrastructure in Africa before pivoting to address climate change.

• Warnholz was an adviser to the World Bank and a part of Hillary Clinton’s State Department.
• Bhattacharya served as chief innovation officer at Safaricom and was CEO of iHub Nairobi.
• Other investors include Active Impact Investments, Techstars Ventures, Urban Impact Ventures, Climate Capital and activist Baratunde Thurston.

Of note: “I realized when we had one of these massive heat waves in Kenya that everything I was so passionate about for all of my career was threatened by climate change,” Warnholz says.

• “So I became obsessed with climate change and trying to figure out what I might be able to do to make a small contribution."

How it works: Future offers a debit card that rewards users with up to 6% cashback when they purchase low-carbon, greener alternatives for everyday spending.

• Examples include spending for EV charging, public transportation, plant-based meat and second-hand clothes.
• The whole thing works by scanning receipts to categorize purchases, which the app then uses to determine rewards.

What’s next: The startup also has an app that helps users track and reduce their carbon emissions.