Handprint, a Singapore-based technology platform that is building the sustainability infrastructure for the digital world, announced Monday that it has raised $2.2 million in seed funding led by leading payments network Thunes, with participation from other angel investors.
The funding will be used to further build Handprint’s technology and expand its network of impact partners, helping to advance Handprint’s mission to transform the extractive economy into a regenerative economy – making it simple, easy and impactful for companies of all sizes to protect and regenerate the planet, Handprint said in a statement.
The strategic investment will also combine the Thunes global payment network with Handprint’s technology, allowing funds to reach unbanked and hard-to-reach communities across the world and cutting the cost of intermediaries.
“Handprint represents a transformation in corporate sustainability. For decades, companies have focused their attention on reducing harm and offsetting their negative footprint. We need a new approach, and this funding round will enable us to accelerate our vision to build the sustainability infrastructure for the internet, making it simple, easy and impactful for companies of all sizes to move beyond offsets and help protect and regenerate the planet,” said Mathias Boissonot, Chief Executive Officer of Handprint.
Launched in Singapore in 2020 by leading academics and engineers specializing in digital sustainability, Handprint is already being used by companies around the world to integrate positive impact into their core business functions, including e-commerce giant Lazada, leading healthy food chain SaladStop, and global media platform Teads for its Asia operations.
Through the Handprint platform, companies can select from a range of verified impact projects; embed impact seamlessly into their business functions, like payments processes and e-commerce tools; track how their positive impact grows over time; and create opportunities for customer engagement.
Unlike traditional corporate sustainability approaches, Handprint allows business growth and positive impact to increase side-by-side, and not at the expense of one another. By utilizing blockchain technology and satellite imagery for verification, it is also able to cut 80 percent of the intermediary costs traditionally associated with impact projects, allowing the majority of funds to reach grassroots projects.
“As a global payments company, we are deeply connected to the mission of Handprint – using technology to deliver positive impact. This is part of our commitment and responsibility to turn transactions into actions, at scale,” said Peter de Caluwe, Chief Executive Officer of Thunes.
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