Climate First Bancorp Acquires Purpose-Driven Tech Platform Ecountabl

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Nov. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Climate First Bancorp – the holding company for Climate First Bank, the nation’s leading full-service, FDIC-insured commercial bank focused on environmental sustainability – today announces the purchase of the climate and social justice fintech platform developed by the startup Ecountabl. The platform indexes data on over 10,000 companies, analyzing their environmental, social and governance performance to help customers track how their purchases with brands align with their personal values. The purchase, which closed on Oct. 31, 2022, will accelerate growth and strengthen the core capabilities of OneEthos, the digital banking fintech under the Climate First Bancorp umbrella.

"Banks should make it easy for people to spend their money in ways that align with their social and environmental values,” said Ken LaRoe, Chairman and CEO of Climate First Bancorp. “This acquisition strengthens how OneEthos and Climate First Bank leverage technology and innovation to bring remarkable value to our customers, communities and other stakeholders.”

OneEthos is in the process of integrating Ecountabl technologies into its core platform for use by Climate First Bank customers in 2023. As a result of the acquisition, two Ecountabl co-founders joined the OneEthos team. Andy Burr, Ecountabl Chief Executive Officer, was named Chief Growth Officer of OneEthos. Additionally, Justin Bretting, Ecountabl Chief Technology Officer, was named Chief Technology Officer of OneEthos.

“The award-winning platform developed by Ecountabl is the future of sustainable digital banking,” said Marcio deOliveira, co-founder and CEO of OneEthos. “We are excited to bring Andy and Justin on board at OneEthos and make these technologies available to digital banking customers at Climate First Bank and other financial institutions in the future.”