Case Studies / Pawprint

Handing people the power to make climate-positive change

Using deep-dive user research to build an app that empowers individuals to make carbon-reducing decisions. Taking one carbon footprint at a time, Pawprint is an employee-driven eco movement.

The challenge
Christian Arno wanted to help people make better choices for the planet. But it’s hard to make good choices when you don’t have all the information.

The climate emergency is the biggest challenge facing us all. But where to start? As an individual, knowing how to make even a small difference feels overwhelming.

Should you buy an electric car? Or a bike? Go vegan? How do you even measure your carbon footprint, anyway?

Turning individual choice into meaningful change is a serious challenge.

A challenge Christian Arno was grappling with in 2019. Passionate about the climate emergency but frustrated by the lack of action, he knew he had to turn his energy into something real.

Nile took something which was little more than an idea, and turned it into an investible proposition.
Christian Arno, CEO and Founder
How we helped

Christian needed to find out what the public really struggles with when they want to do the right thing.

So we got out there and talked to them. Listened to what they really cared about. Connected with their sense of powerlessness.

We dug into what motivates people at a personal level, and how that can be scaled to something big.

We found our early adopters. Built a deep connection. And focused on learning everything we could about their existing behaviours. Their unmet needs and their appetite for a solution.

This took us into new and surprising avenues for Pawprint. Different approaches for MVPs (minimum viable products). And after a few rounds of iteration, we prototyped our most promising experiments for rapid user testing.

Then we put our heads together with Christian and the Pawprint team to plan positioning, roll-out and early adoption.

  • 50

    Angel investors

  • £3m+

    Funding raised

  • 41

    Jobs created

A lasting impact

When one person can see the change they’re making, momentum starts to build.

Pawprint has so far attracted 50 angel investors and raised over £3m in funding. They then went on to smash their funding targets on Crowdcube (twice!) and attract another 700 investors (including the whole Nile team).

And they created 36 new jobs in the local community.

A movement was born. Big-name brands couldn’t wait to sign up. And they’re thrilled with the impact it’s had on their teams. Where individuals are celebrated for every action and every action snowballs into collective change.

Christian talks about working with Nile.