Clim8 strengthens Executive team to drive growth and Innovation in climate impact investment

Today, Clim8, the climate impact investment app, announced significant C-level appointments across technology, marketing and operations to drive rapid growth and product innovation. Clim8 empowers consumers to make a positive impact on the planet by investment in solutions to climate change, rather than investing in greenwash funds that are branded as “ethical” or “sustainable”. The app makes it easy to invest in actively selected portfolios under six categories – green energy, clean mobility, climate technology, sustainable food, water systems and the circular economy. With a 25% return on its most popular portfolio in the first 12 months*, part of the Clim8 mission is to dispel the myth that people need to give up returns for investment in companies that are making a positive impact on the planet. Duncan Grierson, Founder and CEO, Clim8, said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome on board some world-class individuals to help propel us - and our customers - to the next level. As a rapidly expanding team with backgrounds at leading companies like JPMorgan, Credit Suisse, Expedia and Amazon, we have the breadth of experience and industry knowledge to focus on innovating to help our community have a positive climate impact, as well as delivering great returns to investors.” New additions to the team include:

• Leon Ho, Chief Product Officer (CPO), joins from fintech Monese, where he was CPO and led on the development of the product, enabling the neobank to become the first to offer cash depositing across ten countries in the EU. He has over 20 years’ experience in building products for startups and multinational firms across financial services and technology, including Amazon and JPMorgan. At Amazon, he was country manager for its UK Payments Products, where he was responsible for creating, launching and providing financial services products to customers to enhance their shopping experience.
• Peter Kasprowicz, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), has a strong track record in clean energy and financial services, with a combined experience of almost 20 years. Previously, he co-founded and led on technology at Kingo, a pioneer in off-grid solar energy in Latin America which won the Grand Prix for Product Design at Cannes Lions in 2019, before merging with M-Kopa. Earlier in his career he was a Director of Fixed Income Trading at Credit Suisse. Peter holds a PhD in physics from the University of Oxford and a MSc in physics from Imperial College.
• Andrew Cocker, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), has joined full-time following six years at Expedia where he was Senior Director, Global Brand & Innovation, responsible for driving a new brand strategy and culture change, as well as leading an innovation unit. In his previous Expedia role, he ran advertising, PR and customer insights across the EMEA region. Prior to this, he was CMO of Skyscanner, where he headed up the team delivering +100% YOY growth, whilst rapidly building and scaling the company globally. Early in his career he worked for the internet services disruptor Freeserve (now part of EE), before moving to Yahoo!, where he became European Marketing Director.
• Megan Olwen Williams, VP Operations and Chief of Staff, joined earlier in the year from Monese, where she was Chief of Staff. Here, she helped grow the company from an early startup to a scale-up with two million customers, expanding its operation into Europe and workforce to 450 employees. Prior to Monese, she was instrumental to scaling Student.com, a global student housing marketplace, by managing a $60 million fundraising round.

Founded in 2019, Clim8 has raised £12m in funding from investors including Channel 4 Ventures and 7percent Ventures, as well as industry leaders such as the former CEO of Interactive Investor, several ex McKinsey partners, as well as over 5,000 crowdfunding investors. “As consumers become more conscious of their environmental impact, awareness around sustainable investing will continue to grow in 2022,” Grierson continued. “Increasingly, people are demanding to know where their savings and pensions are being invested, which will lead to more interest in companies that have products that make a positive climate impact, rather than “ESG” greenwashing. It’s fantastic for us to give people the ability to use their money for good and also see a solid financial return. We are super proud of the team we have built, who will help us launch new features in the app next year, including launching our own pension (SIPP) and Junior ISA accounts. The future is green!” Learn more about Clim8 via clim8.com. Download the app today on iOS or Android and start investing from just £25. You can set up a monthly direct debit for regular impact investing.

*Capital at risk and past performance not indicative or a guarantee of future results. The performance is based on the 12 months to 25th August 2021. The portfolios were established on 21 August 2020.

Adventurous: +25.20 % (benchmark: 17.43 %) 

Balanced: +15.75 % (benchmark: 10.10 %) 

Cautious: +6.57 % (benchmark: 3.03 %)

Respective benchmarks based on comparative portfolio composition data using MSCI World and the Barclays Global Aggregated Bond Indices. For comparative purposes, the average return of the benchmark net of fees over the last 10 years is 5.85%, 8.05% and 10.21% respectively for the Cautious, Balanced and Adventurous portfolios. Performance is stated net of fees, prior to the deduction of tax.