What ekko does

ekko is a London-headquartered fintech that embeds sustainability and environmental impact data into payment transactions for banks, payment service providers (PSPs), and merchants. The platform offers three core products (ekko Banks, ekko Payments, and the Nature Footprint biodiversity metric) plus a Shopify module and a library of plug-ins and SDKs that allow financial institutions to deploy sustainability features within days. Underlying technology combines transaction-level data (amount, merchant category code) with peer-reviewed life-cycle assessment sources including EXIOBASE, GLOBIO, AWARE, and CDC Biodiversité's Global Biodiversity Score to compute per-transaction carbon and biodiversity impacts. AI/ML is applied via stochastic block modeling on bipartite customer-merchant networks to identify emission-profile cohorts and support targeted behavioral nudges.

The company operates a B2B model with two revenue streams: platform licensing/subscription for financial institutions embedding the technology, and transaction-based contributions routed from consumers to environmental projects at checkout. Distribution is primarily through embedded partnerships with payment processors, including Worldpay (EMEA), NXTMOVES (US), and Venue Smart (Australia), plus direct API/SDK integrations and a Shopify app for e-commerce. ekko monetizes both the software access and the consumer contribution flow, with a stated ambition to channel $1 billion USD into sustainability projects by 2030 and reach 100 billion customer interactions.

ekko was founded in 2021 (per firmographic data; other sources reference 2023) and has raised approximately $6.7 million in disclosed funding across a 2024 round led by Fuel Ventures and a February 2026 seed round co-led by Impact Square and Foundation Botnar. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Oli Cook, expanded into a North American headquarters in Atlanta in January 2026 under US GM Grant Wainscott, and operates across the UK, US, Vietnam, Australia, and broader EMEA. Operational legacy data references an earlier earned-wage access business in Vietnam serving 50 client companies and 100,000 factory workers, which the input flags as potentially overlapping with a separate entity of the same name.

Name

ekko

Legal name

Ekko Earth Limited

Website

https://ekko.earth

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ekko is a London-based fintech platform that provides banks, payment service providers, and merchants with plug-ins, SDKs, and embedded tools to surface real-time carbon and biodiversity impact data at the point of payment, enabling consumer contributions to environmental projects at checkout.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Green Fintech / Sustainability SaaS for Payments and Banking

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620)

SIC

Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Enterprise Carbon Accounting & GHG Inventory Platforms (EUABAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Nature & Biodiversity Reporting (TNFD, natural capital) (EUAHAJAM), Sustainability Training, Consulting & ESG Advisory (Operational Playbooks, Staff Training) (THAAANAL)

Keywords

• Embedded sustainability payments
• Biodiversity impact tracking
• Green fintech platform
• ESG payment integration
• Carbon footprint API

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Platform Licensing: B2B licensing model where banks, payment service providers, and merchants pay to integrate ekko's sustainability technology into their products and payment experiences.
2. Transaction-based Contributions: Facilitating contributions from consumers to environmental projects at checkout, with the company channeling funds toward sustainability initiatives. Aim to channel $1 billion USD into sustainability projects worldwide by 2030.

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ekko sells an embedded sustainability software platform that banks, payment service providers, and merchants integrate via plug-ins, SDKs, or fully integrated solutions to display real-time biodiversity and carbon impact of transactions at checkout. The platform's flagship Nature Footprint metric translates peer-reviewed biodiversity and carbon lifecycle data into consumer-friendly insights, enabling end-users to track their environmental footprint and contribute to vetted environmental projects such as Conservation International, RSPB, Tusk, Prevented Ocean Plastic, and Gold Standard initiatives.

Product overview

Ekko is a sustainability platform for financial services companies offering a modular architecture centered around three core products: ekko Payments for payment service providers and merchants, ekko Banks for financial institutions, and the Nature Footprint feature for biodiversity impact tracking. The platform provides plug-ins, SDKs, and fully integrated solutions enabling banks, PSPs, and merchants to embed real-time environmental impact insights and action into everyday transactions. The ekko for eCommerce (Shopify) module extends capabilities to online retail, while the plug-ins and SDKs serve as the technical integration layer across all offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nature Footprint Real-time biodiversity impact metric embedded into payment experiences that translates peer-reviewed biodiversity and carbon lifecycle data into consumer-readable insights about how each purchase affects the natural world. Available to payment providers, banks, and merchants for integration.
• ekko Payments Sustainability solution tailored for payment service providers (PSPs) and merchants, enabling environmental impact insights at checkout so consumers can understand and act on the environmental impact of their transactions.
• ekko Banks Sustainability integration solution for banks and financial institutions enabling their customers to measure and track the environmental impact of every transaction and take action on environmental issues through contribution flows.
• ekko for eCommerce (Shopify) Shopify integration enabling merchants to embed environmental impact tracking and sustainability contribution options into e-commerce checkout experiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• Target to channel $1 billion USD into sustainability projects worldwide by end of 2030
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• WorldpaycoreTechnology or Integration · 17 December 2025Worldpay partnered with ekko to embed sustainability and security into payments for merchants and businesses, focusing on enabling environmental impact insights at checkout. The collaboration aims to promote responsible practices, strengthen brand loyalty, and expand sustainability initiatives across the EMEA region.
• NXTMOVEScoreTechnology or Integration · 12 November 2025NXTMOVES partnered with ekko to bring purpose-driven innovation to payments across the US, with launch in Atlanta. The collaboration aims to enhance customer engagement, loyalty, and brand differentiation by supporting environmental and community initiatives through real-time impact tracking.
• Conservation InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConservation International is a partner in ekko's Nature initiative, working to improve lives by protecting oceans, forests and other living ecosystems.
• RSPB (BirdLife)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRSPB (BirdLife) is a partner covering birdlife and wildlife conservation initiatives in ekko's impact portfolio.
• Turquoise Coast Environmental FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTurquoise Coast Environmental Foundation is a partner covering coastlines initiatives in ekko's impact portfolio.
• Prevented Ocean PlasticminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrevented Ocean Plastic is a partner covering oceans initiatives in ekko's impact portfolio.
• TuskminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTusk is a partner covering wildlife initiatives in ekko's impact portfolio.
• Gold StandardminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGold Standard is a partner covering climate initiatives in ekko's impact portfolio.
• De Montfort UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDe Montfort University partnered with ekko as one of the corporate partners including IBM, Barclays, Deloitte and PwC to shape curriculum and industry placements for courses including MSc in cybersecurity and AI, global MBA in responsible leadership, and MSc in responsible data analytics.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Doconomy: Doconomy embeds carbon-footprint calculations and climate-action nudges into payments and banking apps for financial institutions and merchants — the closest direct peer to ekko's checkout-impact proposition.
• ecolytiq: ecolytiq provides sustainability-as-a-service APIs for banks, PSPs, and merchants to surface environmental impact at checkout and within banking apps — directly overlapping ekko's Payments and Banks offerings.
• Cogo: Cogo integrates carbon-footprint analytics into retail banking apps and payment experiences via partnerships with banks, offering consumers transaction-level impact data — directly comparable to ekko's per-transaction tracking.

Broad incumbents

• Persefoni: Persefoni is an established carbon- and climate-accounting SaaS platform serving financial institutions and large enterprises. It overlaps with ekko on GHG inventory and reporting, though it does not focus on transaction-level consumer impact at checkout.
• Patch: Patch provides carbon-credit API infrastructure enabling apps, fintechs, and platforms to embed offsetting and impact actions. It is a broad incumbent in the sustainability-fintech API category and competes with ekko's transaction-based-contributions model.
• Watershed: Watershed is a leading enterprise carbon-accounting and climate-platform incumbent. While it sits at a broader enterprise scale and does not specialise in checkout/payments, it competes for the same bank and large-merchant sustainability software budgets ekko targets.

Emerging players

• Sweep: Sweep offers a sustainability data platform for businesses including carbon accounting and ESG reporting. As an emerging SaaS player, it overlaps with ekko's enterprise sustainability tooling without ekko's specialist payments focus.
• Greenly: Greenly provides carbon-accounting software to SMBs and integrates with banks and fintechs. As an emerging player, it competes for the same bank-distributed sustainability channel that ekko is pursuing through its PSP partnerships.
• Plan A: Plan A is a Berlin-based carbon-accounting and ESG platform targeting SMBs and corporates. It overlaps with ekko on enterprise carbon measurement but does not focus on real-time transaction-rail integration.
• Cloverly: Cloverly offers a carbon-calculation and offset API that can be embedded into checkout, apps, and platforms. It overlaps directly with ekko's plug-in/SDK carbon-action model and competes for the same fintech and e-commerce integration slots.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ekko