A SCOTTISH start-up that helps people measure their carbon footprint has raised more than £1 million in crowdfunding, more than double its original £400,000 target.
Edinburgh-based Pawprint, which has developed a carbon footprinting app, raised the funds on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube from 720 investors.
These include Perivoli Innovations, an early stage technology investor, who invested £150,000. It invests in new technologies which have a positive social impact and donates any resultant profits to charitable work that funds the improvement of nursery school education in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Our ambition at Pawprint is to unite people and empower them to make an impact in the fight against climate change and we are blown away to have so many new investors join us and to have raised over £1 million,” said Pawprint chief executive Christian Arno, who founded the business in 2019.
“Perivoli Innovations really amplifies their investment impact and we’re delighted that subsequent profits received on their investment will go towards supporting the Perivoli Schools Trust, which, amongst other things, shows nursery teachers in Africa how to create educational games from waste materials.”
A spokesman for Perivoli Innovations said: “We believe that addressing the climate crisis is the world’s most pressing task and that to do so change is required - change both top down (changes in regulations etc) and change bottom up (changes in individual and corporate behaviour). We are delighted to be investing in Pawprint which is set to play an important part in the change required bottom up.”
Pawprint’s app uses metrics developed by carbon footprinting expert and author Mike Berners-Lee, a brother of computer scientist Sir Tim Berners-Lee and also an adviser to Pawprint. The app includes a carbon calculator, an impact tracking tool, carbon-reducing tips and challenges and insight into how the user’s carbon footprint compares to the rest of the UK
Before this latest crowdfund, Pawprint has previously raised more than £1 million from more than 12,00 investors. These including Oli Norman, the founder of daily deals site Itison, and Kevin Dorren, the Scottish entrepreneur and founder of food delivery business Diet Chef. Other previous Pawprint investors include early backers of Tesla, Spotify and Amazon.
Mr Arno previously set up and built Lingo24, a translation company that now employs 200 staff.
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