In Profile: Oli Cook, CEO at ekko

echo, London-based green fintech, opened its services to employers, banks and payment providers for the first time this month.

An embedded sustainability provider, ekko provides real-time technology that can track the impact of carbon footprints, carbon offsets and support reforestation among other impact initiatives.

Its API allows payment providers and banks to measure the impact of purchases. For employers, selectecho Providing incentives helps companies empower their employees to make purchases that have a positive impact on the environment.

In this week’s profile we meet Oli Cook We asked ekko’s CEO and co-founder why he thinks 2023 will be a big year for the company.

Tell us more about your company and its purpose.

ekko is on a mission to empower millions of customers and businesses around the world to fight climate change. Over the past few years, we’ve built a powerful, customizable platform. The platform provides financial tools to mobilize people from all walks of life to do good by making a more sustainable life easier.

Essentially, we are a technology platform that enables retailers, employers, banks and any payment provider around the world to tackle climate change. they buy

Essentially, the platform allows users to track and offset this spending, utilizing intelligent behavioral nudges to help customers make better, greener choices. All of this is available to banks, payment providers or employers around the world, alongside our own award-winning fintech app in the UK.

What recent achievements would you like to highlight?

We are delighted to partner with one of the world’s leading sports brands. champions league We join clubs around the world with the aim of uniting our passion for sport with our passion for climate. Commercial sports alone account for about 0.8% of the world’s carbon footprint. For context, this corresponds to the total emissions of countries such as Poland, Thailand and Spain. Soccer is estimated to account for about 0.3-0.4% of global emissions.

Our Exclusive Sustainability Technology Partnership Helps Billions Of Football And Sports Fans Around The World Fight Climate Change And Support Their Favorite Teams At The Same Time With The Tap Of A Card When Shopping I can.

We are proud to have received the ‘Best Achievement in Sustainability’ award. Cards and Payments Awards 2023We also spent a lot of time in Q4 2022 preparing for new product launches, including ekko incentives. I can’t wait to share the rest too.

How did you get into the fintech industry?

I have been in financial services my entire career. I started with several big banks, including savings and foreign exchange operations. HSBC Group. Before founding ekko, he gradually progressed to smaller companies with CCO roles in fintechs and insurtechs.

Over time, it has become clear that fintech has the ability to serve the world in many different areas. As that becomes more and more apparent, I also have an interest in creating businesses that combine finance, the power of technology, and improved social and environmental impact.

What is the best thing about working in the fintech industry?

With fintech running nearly everything in our lives, the opportunities to improve the overall experience for customers and businesses are incredible. slack subscription. Add to that the technological advances we are making, and that means the opportunities for real change while growing your commercial business are endless.

What do you find most frustrating about the fintech industry?

One thing that has frustrated me in this industry is the us vs. them mentality when it comes to big banks and fintechs. we were rivals. Now I feel the industry is changing and I think we are moving from that place to a space of partnerships and collaborations. It exists to help bring about powerful and impactful interests.

How did your previous roles affect your career?

The fundamentals of running a commercially viable business and making a profit have stuck with me since my first day leading a large company at HSBC. I am focused on improving capital efficiency and ensuring positive unit economics across ekko’s business. This effort has enabled us to keep our promises to our customers. Its importance is increasing as the market becomes more difficult for all technologies. startup.

What’s the best mistake you’ve ever made?

I don’t see life that way. If it doesn’t work out, learn from it and put it in your experience bank to help you in the future. Most of the mistakes I’ve made in my previous career have served me well later in my career and in the businesses I’ve been in. In almost all cases, we can say that we have grown and gotten better from those decisions.

What kind of future awaits your company?

2023 will be a big year for ekko. Over the last few years, we’ve built and launched a powerful technology platform that mobilizes people and businesses from all walks of life to do good and live more sustainably.

Announced an enhanced set of products. Several exciting partnerships planned for later this year will help us fulfill our mission of empowering millions of customers and businesses on their journey to greener choices. This is an extremely exciting time for us as we accelerate our commercial growth throughout the year, with the aim of continuing to empower the company to fight climate change step by step.

What are the next big issues or challenges across the industry?

There are many challenges we collectively must face, from the difficult economic climate affecting investment flowing into the sector, to the challenges of tackling global issues with broader impacts such as climate change. . This topic remains a major issue that needs to be addressed and partnerships are very important in supporting this effort.

We continue to help businesses and consumers tackle climate change head-on, and we understand that trying to navigate this challenge alone is unrealistic. Working together as a community and forming partnerships to create meaningful and commercially viable impact at scale.