Make a positive impact
Our approach to sustainability
Driven by our "We Care" company value, at SumUp, we're committed to making our world a better place by doing good for our societies and planet.
Today, SumUp is fortunate to have solid financial footing, global scale and cross-functional expertise, allowing us to extend our positive impact beyond our merchants to our people and planet. SumUp focuses on 3 Es: Environment, Education and Entrepreneurship to achieve this.
Environment
Protecting our planet is more important than ever before. We need to hold all of ourselves accountable to make sure our planet remains livable for generations to come. We want to make the world a better and healthier place to live. SumUp has become a member of the 1% for the Planet and committed to donating 1% of the revenue generated by Solo devices to support environmental causes.
Education
Education plays a central role in improving social mobility, enhancing financial inclusion and advancing overall well-being. At SumUp, we want to support our communities and people with underprivileged backgrounds to learn and progress through education. Our goal is to reduce unemployment, train future skills and even create a talent pool for future SumUppers—SumUp partners with organisations like Generation, CapacitaMe, Monte Azul and Dharma Life.
Entrepreneurship
In the long term, we're convinced that we can create positive economic change by investing in businesses with purposeful and sustainable business ideas. In line with our "Founder's Mentality" value, we want to support the entrepreneurial mindset of SumUppers who wish to start their own businesses and entrepreneurs from minoritised groups to increase our impact in society.
“It is our duty as individuals and organisations, not only for ourselves but especially for our youth and future generations, to take action. We believe that our mission of serving small merchants includes an obligation to help protect the world they live in.”
Marc-Alexander Christ, Co-founder of SumUp
Our sustainability journey
It began with a deep-rooted belief that businesses are responsible for being caretakers of our planet. We recognise that we have a unique opportunity to create positive change, and we've taken that responsibility seriously. Discover how we foster sustainable practices and advocate for a more sustainable future through the projects we support.
Empowering children in rural India
We’re donating to the “Lighting up Young Minds” programme led by Dharma Life – an NGO dedicated to poverty alleviation. With the help of female entrepreneurs that offer blended learning journeys through a digital platform, we've offered classes to over 6,000 children in rural India.
Making education in the favelas accessible
We partner with Associação Comunitária Monte Azul, which aims to create better life opportunities with education in the poorest region of São Paulo, Brazil. We support their local community schools with computers, air conditioning and private teachers, enabling hundreds of students to continue learning.
Educating for sustainable agriculture
SumUp sponsors the "Luana Carvalho" agroecology school in Bahia, Brazil, with material and financial aid in their mission to promote sustainable agriculture education. We're proud to reach several hundred people from rural settlements and enable them to gain knowledge on agroecology and produce organic products.
Improving access to the labour market
We help people in vulnerable life situations to join the labour market by supporting an education project of the Brazilian NGO CapacitaME. Through this project, we support the organisation with computers and office space in São Paulo that serves +500 people per year.
Tech upskilling of young people in South America
Together with Generation, we launched a study programme for unemployed youth in Brazil. Our first cohort of 42 participants (including 11 SumUppers) joined a 3-month full-stack Java course designed to provide training and support to unemployed youth from minority groups interested in pursuing a career in tech. More than 80% of the 2022 unemployed graduates have now found employment.
In 2023, we're continuing to offer free technology courses to unemployed minority youth in Brazil, Chile and Colombia to more than 100 students – with the aim of upskilling:
Brazil: 79% women, 71% black and/or 'pardo', 36% LGBAP+, 5% transgender
Chile: 68% women and non-binary, 35% LGBTQ+, 18% migrants, 5% indigenous
Colombia: 73% women, 18% migrants, 15% LGBTQ+, 20% diverse backgrounds (people with disabilities, displaced by violence, ethnic minorities)
Certified member: 1% for the Planet
As a member of 1% for the Planet, we pledge 1% of all net revenue generated through transactions made with Solo card readers to support non-profit partnerships that offer lasting and impactful solutions to help combat the environmental crisis.
To know more, visit: 1% for the Planet
Preserving ancient rainforest
In partnership with Wilderness International, we helped protect 100 000m2 of forest in Peru for future generations, preserving valuable habitats and biodiversity and offsetting 6,000 tonnes of CO2. Read more about the project here.
Supporting safe cooking methods
We're supporting 1,000 families in Central America with safe, fuel-efficient cookstoves – reducing lung disease risk and saving 12 tonnes of CO2 per stove by burning wood more efficiently. Read more about the Stove Team International initiative here.
Removing plastic waste
In 2022, as part of our first donation towards our 1% for the Planet pledge and through our partnership with the River Cleanup initiative, we removed a staggering 15 tonnes of plastic waste from the Citarum River in Indonesia, one of the world's most polluted rivers.
In 2023, we're committed to continuing our support for the cleanup of the Citarum River by removing another 100 000 kg of plastic. We continue to focus on reducing plastic waste and supporting on-field education campaigns to raise environmental awareness among local communities.
