Tuesday, 15th of November, 2022

Hi,?

Do startups have time to worry about ESG when they are often just trying to survive?

Yes.

This is because they must be aware of their industry's material risks and opportunities, which is essentially what a well-thought-out ESG strategy provides.

Startups should begin by defining their mission, then marry that mission to ESG considerations, such as identifying risks to avoid and manage.

All startups should consider their carbon footprint, treat their employees well, and have diverse boards of directors overseeing them.

As my favorite Spiderman quote goes, "with great power comes great responsibility."

I know a few leaders who should remember this.

1000 times.

Cheers,

Radek

Finance & Tech

• NatWest has created a free to use digital Carbon Planner tool designed to help UK businesses lower energy bills as they cut their carbon footprint. The NatWest Carbon Planner provides personalised actions based on user-data, enabling users to make better informed decisions when looking to reduce their carbon emissions. Solange Chamberlain , chief operating officer, Commercial & Institutional, NatWest Group comments: “Businesses of all sizes are coming under increasing pressure due to rising energy costs. Our new Carbon Planner tool is designed to help navigate these challenging conditions by providing a clear case for investment in sustainability through equipping businesses with greater insight into areas of high-energy and high-carbon consumption." Read more.?
• As the cost-of-living crisis ontinues to squeeze household finances, Barclays is to pay mortgage customers up to ￡2,000 to support energy-efficient home improvements. The Greener Home Reward provides cash upfront for mortgage customers that install any one of several home improvements, including an air-source heat pump, double or triple-glazed windows, solar panels, or home insulation. Dr Pete Brooks, Barclays behavioural economist, says: “When weighing up the costs and benefits of retrofitting, a behavioural bias called ‘hyperbolic discounting’ often comes into play, which in essence means that we tend to prefer smaller, immediate rewards over larger payoffs further down the line. With the expected payback period for some home improvements clocking in at over a decade, these larger options may be overlooked. Even if the long-term benefits might be greater, the end result is often inaction. Read more.?
• Brenton Charnley , the former CEO of TrueLayer 's Australian and New Zealand operation, has resurfaced with a consultancy startup to help businesses take advantage of open finance. TrueLayer's reappraisal of the Australian market opportunity was signalled last month, when the UK-based open banking firm revealed plans to axe ten percent of its staff across offices in London, Milan, Dublin, and Sydney. The firm told local press that it had "paused" its activity in Australia to instead double down on opportunities elesewhere, including in Europe. “For CDR to take off, we need more use cases getting into the hands of consumers," says Charnley. "Open Finance Advisors’ mission is to make that happen. Having lived and breathed open banking and the CDR since its launch in 2020, we can help Australian and international businesses understand their options to access CDR data and then support them to make it a reality. Read more.?
• CaixaBank is hailing the impact of its virtual assistant, claiming that a third of digital customers are already using the bot, making it the top method for answering questions. The AI-based assistant, available through the CaixaBank app, website and smart speakers, has passed the four million user mark and is receiving an average of 50,000 questions a day. The bot is able to understand and reply to customers' questions, whether spoken or written, offering customised information. Read more.?
• RBC is the latest lender to tap into Visa's BNPL technology to offer its credit cardholders the option of paying for purchases in instalments. The deal means that eligible RBC personal credit cardholders can convert a qualifying purchase into smaller, equal payments made over a defined period of time when shopping at participating merchants across Canada - both in-store and online. Read more.?
• 花旗 Ventures has made its first fintech investment in India, joining a $60 million raise in bank lending software house Lentra. Citi ventures joined existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and SIG Venture Capital in the capital raise. The four-year-old technology startup is one of the fastest growing enterprise SaaS companies in India, offering banks out-of-the-box modules for different parts of the lending lifecycle. Lentra's lending cloud services more than 40 banks and processes over 3 million applications monthly. It has processed over 13 billion transactions and $21Bn worth of loans on its platform so far. Read more.?
• Klarna 's push to create an all-pupose shopping app has been boosted further with the inclusion of a price comparison tool for the cost-conscious consumer.The new tool compares prices across thousands of retailers and enables customers to filter their search by including colour, size, features, customer ratings, store availability and shipping options. Sebastian Siemiatkowski, cofounder and CEO, Klarna, says: “You could spend the whole day comparing offers at conventional search engines or marketplaces, but you’ll always have doubts - have I really found the best product at the best price? Klarna’s new search and compare tool does the hard work for consumers and compares thousands of websites in real time to ensure they have all the information they need to make informed and confident purchase decisions." Read more.?
• Young Brits are turning to TikTok for financial information, with many of them believing that influencers on the app provide better advice than traditional media. A survey of 1000 18 to 14 year olds for the Current Account Switch Service shows that 58% follow TikTok influencers who talk about budgeting, money, or personal finance. Of these, many trust what they hear, with 40% saying that these influencers give better advice than traditional media, 34% better than their friends and 26% better than their financial provider. Read more.?

Number to Remember

5 Sustainable Best Practices

• No matter how successful your startup is, you’ll always need to pay bills and ensure healthy future cash flows. Times of plenty can lull you into thinking funds will always flow into your bank account, because that’s been your reality so far, but the cruel reality is that capital sources can dry up overnight with no warning. To weather uncertainty and maintain emotional equilibrium, it’s good to temper your exuberance and confidence with a dose of realism. Read more.?

Reader’s Corner?

• Recently, a new test automation tool for mobile apps was released: Maestro. This tool is positioned as the easiest way to automate UI tests for your mobile app. It’s hard to disagree with this claim because learning how to use it took me several dozen minutes. The documentation is concise and offers clear examples, so it’s easy to follow. On top of that, you don't need to know mobile application coding languages to write automated tests using the Maestro tool. It’s enough to have the binary file of the application for the given platform. Read more.