Where did you get the idea for your start-up?

Alexey Shadrin. – “The idea came from our founders’ ten-year experience in impact investment and four years of R&D in blockchain tech for good. While working on climate projects that generate carbon credits by reducing CO₂ we realised that the current market is not accessible for small-scale projects and that there should be more transparency in terms of impact calculation and reporting on the project side. After enabling the world’s first carbon credit transaction on blockchain within DAO IPCI open-source project, it became clear to us that blockchain can address sustainable development challenges in a smarter, faster, cheaper and more transparent way. After testing this idea with banks, funds and corporates we combined our experience in tech and impact finance to launch Evercity. 

Do you have any advice to give to those who are still hesitant to get started?

“My only advice would be not to wait, there is never a better time to get started than now. If you have a great idea, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a pandemic time or economic crisis. Do not hesitate to try, and even if you fail you will learn from your mistakes and do better next time. 

Speaking about the fintech or climate tech sectors, for further development, we need new talents. Therefore, I would encourage everyone to start moving and if you are hesitant, start with participating in hackathons and other events in the early stages of your start-up to get more knowledge, learn about the best practices and think about what can be improved.  

We often hear that it is essential to make mistakes. What do you think about this?

“Success is the result of constant mistakes that you analyse and [which allow you to] improve your performance according to this analysis and feedback from your target audience. Everybody makes mistakes and they are an important part of future success. The key is to make the right conclusions and implement them wisely. Keep trying and you will succeed!”