Asking WHY we founded a climate action startup shouldn’t really be necessary in 2022. It’s almost laughable! Because in times like these, shouldn’t the real question be ‘WHY NOT?’ Climate change ranks as humanity’s biggest challenge – and only a few companies drive climate action forward as part of their core business. Glacier is one of them.

Andreas Tschas and Rainhard Fuchs first considered a climate action company in 2019, but they didn’t want to rush into it. They dived into meetings and workshops, as well as discussions with experts, scientists, CEOs, politicians and friends. Then, in December of that year, they went to Madrid to visit COP25. What they witnessed was too much talking and too little action – plus weak political leadership. This was the eye-opening moment that convinced Andreas and Rainhard to take the plunge.

Back in Austria, they explored several possible ways they could take real action. At the end of February 2020, they filed the initial documents to register a company. But guess what happened then? COVID-19 hit. With the economy at a standstill, there was little point in completing the founding process during those uncertain months. So Glacier Carbon Reduction GmbH wasn’t formally established until September of that year.

Still, Andreas and Rainhard made use of the first phase of the pandemic, getting early support for their vision of driving climate action forward. They met with Alissa, Denise and – later on – Sebastian to define the company’s first milestones.

This process led to the concept of a climate action day for companies (Climate Impact Day) and the development of a digital Carbon Manager for company CO2 footprint calculations. No less than 19 corporate customers, including Bank Austria, ÖAMTC, A1 Telekom Austria and Microsoft, had committed to the inaugural event by the end of 2020.

The first Climate Impact Day went ahead in 2021. It proved a great success, with over 140 companies taking part. In turn, over 21,000 of their employees were inspired to take climate action by this direct reachout. The digital Carbon Manager (CARMA) was also launched, with 39 companies using it to calculate their carbon footprints for 2021. May 2021 also saw the Climate Academy take place for the first time. With 189 participants from over 50 companies and a star rating of 4.8 out of 5, it was also a complete success.

To get off to a strong start financially, the first round was expanded to accommodate renowned business angels from the DACH region. A total of €1.7 million was raised. We quickly hit an important milestone by expanding our customer base to over 100 paying companies in 2021.

Moreover, the team pushed Glacier’s vision of a world in which climate action is a central part of every company’s DNA. Our mission is ‘Empowerment & Education’ for companies and their employees. Through our programs, we aim to do just that – empower and educate them to take effective climate action and achieve ambitious climate goals.

While maximizing our positive climate impact through our products, we’re also trying to keep our own carbon footprint as low as possible. To establish a company that is carbon-neutral and ideally net-zero from day one. This ongoing challenge has been successful to date.