Silver Spring-based debit card provider, Future, the movement to accelerate the shift to a low-carbon economy through financial rewards, has raised $5.3M in seed funding. Led by Accomplice, with participation from Active Impact Investments, Techstars Ventures, Urban Impact Ventures, Climate Capital, and the author, activist, and host Baratunde Thurston. Per the press release: Future is empowering consumers to reduce their carbon emissions and earn extra cash. While most cards give the highest rewards for activities with a high carbon footprint, like flying or filling up your tank, FutureCard Visa Card gives its highest rewards in the fast-growing low-carbon economy. Future offers up to 6% cashback on greener alternatives to everyday spending across transportation, food, fashion, devices, beauty, and furniture. There’s no interest, and Future doesn’t use members’ points to plant trees or buy other carbon offsets. Instead, the focus is on making low-carbon products and services more readily accessible for families and individuals across America. “We are thrilled to lead this investment in Future,” said Ryan Moore, Co-founder of Accomplice. “More and more consumers across the country are looking for simple and rewarding ways to do right by our planet. Future is building a new category of financial product that helps them do just that.” Future was founded in the fall of 2021 by Jean-Louis Warnholz and Kamal Bhattacharya and has since grown to over 20 team members across product and engineering, growth, partnerships, and operations. “There’s a common misconception that reducing carbon emissions in our day-to-day life is hard and expensive,” said Jean-Louis Warnholz, Future’s CEO. “Future is on a mission to change that by connecting our members with brands, products, and services that are good for your wallet and good for the planet.” With this seed round of funding, Future will launch even more rewarding ways to tackle climate change and will add more game-changing brands to the rewards ecosystem. Current FuturePartners, with elevated 6x rewards and weekly raffles, include Back Market, Rad Power Bikes, Just Salad, Ministry of Supply, For Days, Earth Hero, Fulton, Everlasting Wardrobe, and Hilos. To learn more about Future and to reserve a FutureCard, click here. “There has been so much innovation in expanding low-carbon choices for consumers, from plant-based protein and circular fashion to electric mobility,” said Mike Winterfield, Founder of climate VC Active Impact Investments. “Future is leveraging AI to maximize the benefits of the emerging low-carbon economy for consumers and the planet.”
