business

Tech Nation Welcomes Leeds-based Climate Tech Company Tred To Its Second Net Zero Growth Programme

Tech Nation, the UK growth platform for tech scaleups,has announced that Leeds-based climate tech company Tred has been accepted into Net Zero 2.0 - the second cohort of the Net Zero growth programme.

Net Zero 2.0 is the first government-backed growth programme designed to support the most promising climate tech companies to accelerate the UK’s and the world’s path to net zero. This year’s successful companies were assessed by 40 specialists across key industries and sectors. The companies were judged based on their scalability and potential to help the UK reach its high-priority net zero goal. Companies are actively decarbonising each key sector, with the most prominent including energy and electricity, transport, buildings and cities, and agriculture. Carbon removals and space-tech are two new focus areas this year.

Gerard Grech, Founding CEO of Tech Nation and Founding Member of the Tech Zero Taskforce, said:
Will Smith and Peter Kirby, Founders of Tred, said: “We’re thrilled to have been selected for the TechNation Net Zero programme, alongside such inspiring businesses. Our ambition has always been to get Tred’s green debit card and app in as many people’s hands as possible – because the more of us fighting climate change, the better. Participating in the programme will be a big help in our journey to scale Tred, and shrink our users’ carbon footprints. We’re looking forward to getting stuck in!”

With 40% of emissions reductions reliant on technologies not yet at mass-market scale, it is imperative to support the growth of these companies. In the run-up to COP26, the Net Zero programme aims to help realise these vital tech companies’ potential to drastically reduce global emissions. Every company in the Net Zero 2.0 cohort will be given unparalleled access to long-term investment opportunities, education, talent, press opportunities and a platform with which to influence green policies and create the optimum conditions for growth.

Leeds-based Tred is a consumer fintech whose mission is to make money work for people and the planet. Its first product is the UK’s first green debit card that lets users track, reduce and offset their carbon footprint as they spend, and plants trees with profits. The company will soon be launching more products, like green investing and a sustainable marketplace, to help people turn more of their money green.

The UK leads the way in Europe for its number of climate tech companies

Will Smith

Will Smith and Peter Kirby, Founders of Tred, said: “We’re thrilled to have been selected for the TechNation Net Zero programme, alongside such inspiring businesses. Our ambition has always been to get Tred’s green debit card and app in as many people’s hands as possible – because the more of us fighting climate change, the better. Participating in the programme will be a big help in our journey to scale Tred, and shrink our users’ carbon footprints. We’re looking forward to getting stuck in!”

New data from Tech Nation and Dealroom has revealed there are 519 Net Zero startups and scaleups in the UK, nearly double the number in France (270) and 63% more than in Germany (318).
With its Net Zero 1.0 cohort and new Net Zero 2.0 cohort, Tech Nation has now supported the growth of 13% of the UK’s climate tech companies in total, who are leading the race to net zero by innovating across entech, healthtech, agritech, fintech and even space tech.

Tech in the UK’s Yorkshire and the Humber region is booming

Tred is part of Yorkshire and the Humber’s vibrant and fast-growing tech scene. According to data from The Tech Nation Report 2021, the Yorkshire and the Humber region is home to over 11,120 digital tech firms, with its tech sector employing over 54,000 people, and an annual turnover of $9bn in 2020.

Leeds is the second largest tech hub in the Yorkshire and the Humber region (behind only Hull), and the city received £29mn in investment in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, making it the eleventh largest tech hub in the UK overall (with Hull ranking seventh).
Empowering Tred and all of the promising climate tech companies in the new Net Zero cohort is at the core of Tech Nation’s mission. Tech Nation is also proud to be a founding member of the Tech Zero Taskforce, whose Tech Zero Pledge has recently reached 100 signatories, and have committed to reducing and measuring their own carbon emissions - as well as publishing these in an annual Sustainability Report.

Sammy Fry, Net Zero Lead at Tech Nation, said: “With Europe recording its highest ever temperature on record this Summer, and the latest IPCC report published last month, there isn’t a more urgent time to act on decarbonising our atmosphere. Every successful Net Zero scaleup is another leap closer to decarbonising the world. I’m proud to say that in the run up to COP26, our pioneering Net Zero growth programme gives these ambitious, high-growth climate tech scaleups the access they need to investors, insights, education, networks, and practical support, enabling the UK to lead our transition to a green economy as quickly as possible.”