SKOOT latest fundraise to drive growth and offset vehicle carbon as lockdown eases
SKOOT, a new mobility app which enables drivers and businesses to automatically offset and reduce carbon from their car journeys has announced it aims to raise a minimum of £300k through a new crowd-funding campaign. The funds will support SKOOT’s ongoing growth, global expansion and its commitment to plant one million trees to offset motorists’ carbon emissions as lockdown eases and car journeys begin to increase, with a free tree planted every drive.
SKOOT generates multiple revenue models from B2C users and a B2B subscription for ESG-focused companies which use the app to support the goal of achieving carbon net zero by 2030. Friends and co-workers can also use SKOOT to share lifts and also split costs of car journeys as the app calculates the amount and enables cashless payments (which includes a small SKOOT processing fee).
SKOOT has joined forces with Eden Reforestation Projects (Eden), a global non-profit re-reforestation organisation with the forthcoming fundraise being partly used to support Eden in delivering SKOOT’s ‘1 Million Free Tree Challenge’, which aims to create and restore sustainable and manageable forests in some of the world’s poorest nations. If overfunded, the additional funds will be channelled into the global growth of the SKOOT app, additional new features and continued engagement of its user base.
The company is currently working on several transport-related projects with a global facilities management company and has also set up strategic partnerships with a number of UK football clubs, including Bolton Wanderers and the world’s greenest football club, Forest Green Rovers. These are designed to re-unite fans sharing a lift when returning to the game and helps the clubs navigate to a more sustainable future.
Greg Gormley, CEO and co-founder of SKOOT, said: “We are fundraising to accelerate SKOOT’s growth. As the world’s first green navigation app, we believe passionately that we cannot afford to let the carbon time-bomb explode. We have already seen traction for our carbon negative mobility solution, even during lockdown, and our patent pending technology offers a simple way for every motorist and every business to drive in a fully sustainable and responsible way – in fact the more journeys completed on the platform the better it is for the planet as SKOOT makes them 110% Carbon Negative.
“Our investors benefit from being part of our strong sustainability agenda, and the race to Net Zero, which is becoming one of the most important issues for businesses, Governments and now drivers themselves. SKOOT are putting themselves at the forefront of the ESG agenda through technology.”
Mark Stringer, CMO and co-founder of SKOOT, added: “Part of our fund raise is focused on SKOOT’s ‘1 Million Free Tree Challenge’ which aims to alleviate the sense of guilt that motorists share as many people continue to avoid public transport due to Covid concerns and lockdown eases.
“In 2019 UK motorists clocked up 278 billion car miles, equating to 58.3M tonnes of carbon – even in 2020, during the pandemic, this number still exceeded 200 billion. Most drivers will be unaware that they need to plant a tree for approximately every 25 miles travelled in their cars to offset carbon emissions. SKOOT’s technology automatically plants a tree for every journey and helps nudge people to lift-share to help out colleagues, friends and neighbours creating cheaper, safer travel. Alongside your virtual forest, which reflects the numbers of real trees planted for you, leader-boards and gamification all help to incentivise the reduction of both carbon and congestion.”
