Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem do you solve?
Enée Bussac, Greencent: Greencent is a loyalty system that rewards environmental friendliness. Through our app, individuals receive loyalty points. We reward based on the principle “1 kg saved CO2 = 1 Greencent”. To do this, we measure and report the CO2 emission savings of our users for the benefit of our customers, who are public or private organizations (e.g., a city).
Subsequently, we acquire partner businesses that give the Greencent value by creating offers on our marketplace. There, our users can spend their Greencents. For the businesses, we function as a marketing tool based solely on environmental friendliness. This way, we help our customers meet their own goals as well as the requirements of European environmental regulations.
The less CO2, the more loyalty points
Munich Startup: But that already exists, doesn’t it!
Greencent: Many apps reward individuals because they move or save CO2. We differentiate ourselves from these companies in that our reward is based exclusively on the most relevant and well-known unit of measurement for environmental pollution: CO2. This gives our system three major advantages. The system…:
- is scientific because it is based on reference figures and measurements of the CO2 footprint
- is educational because users receive rewards that are directly linked to their CO2 emission savings
- can function as a kind of “compliance tool”: Greencents can be used to comply with European regulations on corporate emissions.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Greencent: In early 2020, I won an idea competition on payment methods as part of the DLD in Munich. That set me on the path of entrepreneurship. After a few months, I met Dénes at an online event for entrepreneurs organized by Zero21. We then participated in a couple of incubation programs in 2021 and won some awards. Through the end of April, Dénes and I are also participating in the Future City Accelerator. Victor, on the other hand, I recruited in mid-2021 through the Cofounders Lab. He created our app and the backend. We are currently founding the company as a three-person team.
Market testing with pilot customers
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Greencent: Like many entrepreneurs, we faced the chicken-and-egg problem multiple times. Our first challenge was finding a developer. We convinced Victor because I had already piqued the interest of companies in 2021, especially German insurance groups and savings banks. We then had as many people as possible test the app developed by Victor and in parallel found a pilot customer. With our pilot customer in Austria, we now need to prove that our concept works both from a technical and commercial perspective before we approach further customers or investors.
Munich Startup: How is business going?
Greencent: We currently have user numbers in the three-digit range and around a dozen businesses that accept our loyalty points – the Greencents – as a payment method. We are currently implementing our product in the Liezen district in Styria: As of May, the district’s 80,000 residents can earn Greencents through the mobility app Limo (Liezen Mobil) and redeem them with our local partners. Among other things, we work here with the national park, a castle, and various restaurants and shops.
Greencents can currently only be earned through environmentally friendly mobility: Since Liezen is a rural area, we started with carpooling. As of this summer, users of the Limo app will also be able to earn Greencents through bus and train rides as well as cycling. Revitalizing the local economy is an important point for regional management. Our green measurement and rewards system can also be adapted to cities and their mobility apps. We are currently in talks with a major German city as well as with Hungary’s capital.
Greencent: Support through Munich ecosystem crucial
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Greencent: The support from various actors in the Munich startup ecosystem was crucial from the start! Through the Ebridge Alliance, now ‘Start for Future’, of the SCE of Hochschule München, we significantly improved our business model and presentations. We also found our first co-founders through it. We were then able to benefit from the support of MGIS. At the end of 2022, I was able to present Greencent at Hochschule München and make contacts with Munich’s city administration. I will continue to build Greencent from Munich and hope for future cooperation with the city and MVG.
Munich Startup: Outsource or do it yourself?
Greencent: Of course, it depends on the topic. We had to build the app ourselves, so I contacted hundreds of developers through Cofounders Lab and LinkedIn until we found Victor. A graphic designer worked with us in 2022, so we also developed our design in-house after we had hired a few freelancers abroad. I like to hire specialists in other areas: of course a notary and a tax advisor, but also a consultant in the data protection field.
In general, the rule is: either spend money or expect a lot of work and challenges.
