Climate-focused fintech startup Bloom Impact Investing just raised $525,000 in seed funding, led by Up co-founder Dominic Pym and Envato founders Collis and Cyan Ta’eed.
The mobile investment app was launched by Camille Socquet-Clerc and Bertrand Caron in 2019. It aims to not only democratise the investing landscape but offer a green solution to investors. Individual users can start with investments as low as $100 and will not be charged brokerage fees, while companies and trusts are also able to use the platform with a minimum investment of $5000.
According to Bloom, it wanted to prove that you can be an investor and help save the planet simultaneously. Part of the Bloom strategy is enabling previously unlisted green investment opportunities, such as solar and wind farms, accessible in the app. And it’s certainly a pertinent time to be moving the green investment space. The Responsible Investment Association of Australasia estimates that impact investing will increase to $100 billion in Australia over the next five years.
We have also seen an uptick in sustainable investment options in both the Superannuation and ETF spaces over the past few years.
“I wanted to invest in sustainable and climate-positive investments, but most opportunities were restricted to wholesale and institutional investors by buying into individual stocks,” Bloom Impact Investing co-founder and CEO Camille Socquet-Clerc said in a statement.
“I saw an opportunity to create an avenue for people like me who wanted to invest, but who didn’t have $50,000 to spare and endless amounts of free time to research which companies would deliver the best returns and genuine climate impact.
“We’ve created a diversified and liquid portfolio to allow all Australians to invest in the clean energy transition and benefit from it,” she said.
According to Socquet-Clerc, Bloom invests in tangible companies and projects that make a measurable positive impact on climate.
The company has also invested a great deal of time and effort to avoid greenwashing.
“Due to the sheer amount of greenwashing in financial services, this proved to be more of a challenge than we initially anticipated. It has forced us to apply a rigorous scientific method to our investment decisions,” Socquet-Clerc said.
“This means going much further than investing in a couple of solar and wind stocks and supporting solutions with deep decarbonisation potential across all industries such as geothermal energy, wetland protection, metal recycling, or low-carbon cement.”
Bloom is currently managing $1.6 million in funds and it will use this funding raise to scale the business as well as hire in business development to help grow the Bloom community. The app is available on both the App Store and Google Play.
Deputy editor
A multi-award-winning journalist, Tegan has been reporting on technology, telecommunications and gaming for the past 10 years. She regularly appears on mainstream media channels as an expert tech commentator. Her previous roles include editor of Gizmodo Australia and global reviews editor at Finder. She has also served as a reporter and editor across Business Insider, Lifehacker and Kotaku Australia. Tegan is also the co-host of one of the top technology podcasts in Australia, Weird Tech. You can find her on Twitter @Tegan_Writes.
