GreenTech is reshaping finance by fusing technology with sustainability. From startups to large financial institutions, there’s a clear push to embed climate intelligence into financial decisions. In 2024, green fintech investments hit USD 2.7B – underscoring strong momentum and growing confidence in tech-led sustainability solutions.
The focus is sharp: drive financial innovation while delivering real environmental impact.
Here’s a look at key Green Finance trends that are reshaping the industry.
Click here to download “The Future of Finance is Digital – and Sustainable” as a PDF.
Catalysing Change: Impact Investing
Impact investing is going mainstream, especially in fast-growing emerging markets.
This shift reflects a growing realisation: private capital is critical to climate action, and tackling climate risks is a financial opportunity, not just an ethical choice.
AVPN (Asian Venture Philanthropy Network) has launched ImpactCollab – a platform linking finance professionals with verified impact organisations, due diligence tools, and monitoring resources. Initially used by private banks in Singapore to bolster philanthropy advisory, it will soon expand into blended finance and impact investing, backed by MAS.
Green bonds are also gaining momentum, driven by investor demand, regulatory tailwinds, and rising climate risk awareness. In Singapore, NUS, UOB, and Northern Trust piloted tokenised green bond reporting to boost transparency. India, meanwhile, opened its sovereign green bonds to foreign investors via the Fully Accessible Route (FAR), unlocking global capital for climate goals.
Empowering Customers with Carbon Insights
Carbon tracking is becoming a staple in digital banking, driven by a growing demand for transparency around environmental impact. Banks are responding by embedding carbon calculators into apps – enabling users to measure emissions, benchmark against national averages, and get actionable tips to reduce their footprint.
In Indonesia, Bank Mandiri has launched an in-app feature that helps customers track their personal carbon emissions, making it easy to understand the environmental impact of daily actions. The Royal Bank of Canada has partnered with a carbon management platform to offer businesses tools to monitor and manage their emissions.
These moves reflect a broader shift: banks are embedding sustainability into everyday financial behaviour and deepening customer engagement through purpose-driven services.
Blockchain-Enabled Carbon Trading
Blockchain is transforming carbon trading by enabling a decentralised, transparent, and secure way to verify and transact carbon credits.
This technology addresses long-standing issues of fraud and inefficiency, offering a more reliable and cost-effective approach to managing credits and meeting climate goals.
Thailand has eased crypto regulations to promote blockchain-based carbon trading, positioning itself as a leader in sustainable tech. Meanwhile, US-based financial services firm Northern Trust has launched a blockchain platform that allows project developers to generate, verify, and trade voluntary carbon credits in near real-time. Together, these moves signal a shift toward mainstream adoption of blockchain in carbon markets.
Addressing the Climate Risk Gap
As climate risks intensify, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are seeking tools to assess and manage their exposure. Despite being highly vulnerable to climate events, SMEs often lack the resources to navigate complex risk landscapes.
Fintechs are stepping in with climate risk-scoring tools that help SMEs identify vulnerabilities and take proactive steps – such as securing insurance or adapting their strategies.
Marsh has highlighted the need for SME-focused climate assessments in New Zealand, particularly for high-risk sectors. Its Climate Risk Navigator helps businesses build resilience and make informed decisions on insurance and sustainability. In India, insurers like ICICI Lombard are using geospatial tech – GIS, satellite imagery, and AI – to power climate-linked products. For example, its satellite-based insurance for wheat farmers in Punjab enables faster, more accurate yield assessments and claim settlements.
Rise of Climate-Conscious Crypto
Once criticised for high energy use, crypto mining is undergoing a green makeover – fuelled by surplus renewable energy and optimised by AI.
What was seen as wasteful is now being reimagined as a tool for grid stability and sustainable growth.
In Switzerland’s Canton of Bern, Bitcoin mining is being explored as a way to absorb excess power and stabilise the grid. In the UK, mining firms are tapping into unused wind energy during off-peak hours to avoid waste. This shift is reaching emerging markets too – Pakistan is converting surplus electricity into value by launching state-backed Bitcoin mining and AI data centres, turning untapped power into economic opportunity.
Ecosystm Opinion
Becoming truly sustainable presents a unique challenge for financial organisations, as their responsibility extends beyond internal operational efficiencies to actively empowering customers and the wider ecosystem to embrace green practices. This is compounded by a growing reliance on increasingly compute-intensive and energy-inefficient technologies.
The recent and growing emphasis on Green Finance offers a promising outlook, suggesting a positive shift in the industry’s trajectory towards a more sustainable future.
If you are a startup seeking investment, you might initially consider venture capital or business angels. However, with the increasing awareness of global needs for humanity, society, and the planet, impact investing has emerged as a significant source of finance for good. This market, which was valued at approximately USD 230 billion in 2017, is projected to reach around USD 1 trillion by 2025.
For mission-driven startups addressing critical issues in healthcare, education, or climate change, it’s essential to explore the potential of attracting impact venture funds. These funds offer not just capital but also collaborative opportunities. Even if you’re just starting out or operating on a small scale, understanding the investment criteria early on is crucial.
Impact venture funds aim to generate measurable social and/or environmental impact alongside financial returns.
In addition to the conventional expectation of financial performance, here are 5 key investment criteria for impact venture funds.
Click here to download ‘Beyond Profit: What Impact Venture Funds Seek in Startups’ as a PDF
#1 The Impact is Positive
But what does “impact” actually mean? Many people use the term in a generic sense to describe some positive effect of a business or organisation. However, in the world of “impact investing”, impact has a specific meaning.
Impact is the ultimate large-scale contribution of a business, company or country to society including the environment.
This impact can be both positive and negative. It is fair to say that in the process of producing goods and services worldwide, positive and negative impacts are created simultaneously. The key question is whether the positive outweighs the negative.
#2 The Impact is Social or Environmental
As for a business, company, or country’s contribution to society, the UN Sustainable Development Goals are a solid framework are a solid framework for orientation. These are the pressing problems that once improved will lead to a more balanced and sustainable future.
Any company of any size and from any industry can easily identify which of the SDGs their products and services support.
By using references to certain SDGs organisations can then communicate their vision and mission more clearly to investors but also other relevant stakeholders such as governments, communities, suppliers, and consumers.
#3 The Impact is Long-Term
The “ultimate” aspect of impact refers to the fact that impact is not about immediate outputs or outcomes.
Impact is the long-term consequence and systemic change due to a continuous use of an organisation’s products and services.
If we take the example of a fintech solution that promotes financial literacy, transparency, or inclusive access to investing, the impact of that solution is not that people benefit from easier or faster financial transactions. Rather, it’s about creating new financial opportunities for a broader segment of the world population, potentially leading to greater economic empowerment for underserved groups – aligning with SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality).
#4 The Impact is Scalable
The “large-scale” aspect of impact is critical for impact venture funds, as they seek to invest in scalable businesses that can amplify positive outcomes. Given the urgency of global challenges, there is no time or resources to spare on small-scale solutions. The geographic location of a startup or its initial focus on a specific region is irrelevant – what matters is its potential to grow and address pressing global issues efficiently.
If a product, service, or solution is sufficiently generic and easily scalable to reach a broader audience and various markets, the potential impact of that business will be appealing to impact venture funds.
#5 The Impact is Measurable
It is easy for organisations to remain vague or qualitative in their statements about impact, particularly when discussing the positive and charitable aspects of their actions.
If organisations are serious about creating change, they need to treat impact as an equal measure to profit. As Peter Drucker famously said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”.
In the impact realm, deriving meaningful KPIs can be complex. Collaborating with an impact venture fund not only sets the expectations but also provides guidance to establish a transparent framework of KPIs to measure a business’s impact.
Ecosystm Opinion
Many believe only social businesses qualify for impact venture funding. In reality, any (tech) company solving societal or environmental issues is inherently impact-oriented. The key is awareness, measurement, and partnering with the right people.
Check out the websites and portfolios of impact venture funds – you’ll be surprised by the diverse areas and industries they support. Your startup might be the perfect match!
