Deedster announced as the Winner, Empower.eco and Trust Stamp as finalists of the Mastercard Lighthouse MASSIV impact startup program

Deedster provides banks, payment providers, and card issuers with data and digital tools to measure and manage carbon emissions. Deedster receives the award for their partnership potential. The team was highly accountable and progressed well in the program on both networking opportunities and impact measurement.

“We are so proud to be appointed winners in a cohort with so many bright teams and innovative solutions. It’s a recognition for Deedster that we are on the right path and also a recognition to net zero transformation as a very urgent topic.

For Deedster, the Lighthouse Program helped us to further validate and qualify the impact potential of our business together with UNDP, but most importantly Mastercard has opened up several avenues in their network for scaling our SME offering for banks. We can now accelerate our roll out of a lean and cost efficient solution for banks to address the pain point of sourcing data for regulatory reporting while at the same time helping their SME customers with green transition and financin”.

Niclas Persson, CEO & Co-founder of Deedster

Alongside Deedster, two other Nordic companies became finalists of the Mastercard Lighthouse MASSIV Spring 2025 program – TrustStamp Denmark, delivering privacy-first, interoperable identity solutions that empower underserved communities to securely access essential services without compromising personal data, and Norwegian Empower.Eco, a digital traceability and data solutions startup enabling digital waste tracking and circular economy solutions.

“Deedster, Empower.Eco and TrustStamp are highly impactful companies touching upon social impact, circularity and sustainability. We are proud to have worked on the scaling journey of five impact tech start-ups this spring program. It is important to support start-ups impacting both people and planet and their contribution to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals” – Mats Taraldsson, Head of Fintech and Impact Tech Engagement at Mastercard Northern Europee

The Impact Potential Award was also presented to one of the finalists of the program, Empower.Eco, a global leader in digital waste tracking and circular economy solutions, leveraging blockchain technology to bring transparency, traceability, and accountability to waste value chains. Empower was awarded the Impact Potential Award for creating a real, positive, and direct impact on the world in line with Mastercard Lighthouse MASSIV’s vision of helping as many people as possible live more prosperous and secure lives globally.

“Entrepreneurship is a powerful engine for change — especially when driven by purpose and impact. Empower.eco, winner of this year’s Impact Potential Award, exemplifies this spirit. The company is tackling the global waste crisis while improving the livelihoods of waste pickers — demonstrating how circular economy models, powered by digital finance, can create both environmental and social value. Empower.eco shows how innovation can address systemic challenges and drive inclusive growth. At this critical midpoint of the 2030 Agenda, we are proud to support impact-driven entrepreneurs like Empower.eco who are helping to build a more sustainable and equitable future for all” says – Luciana Aguiar, Sustainable Finance Programme Manager, UNDP Sustainable Finance Hub.

Over three months, five companies have participated in the MASSIV program where they have attended workshops and received support from experts and advisors from Swedbank, Danske Bank, UNDP, VNTRS and Synch, amongst others. MASSIV’s Spring 2025 Class also included Esgrid, a B2B SaaS startup that empowers medium-sized enterprises and financial institutions to manage their value chain sustainability on autopilot by fully automating end-to-end processes and reducing costs by 10x. Finally, Contribe is redefining loyalty by making every purchase an opportunity for real-world impact. Instead of earning points or discounts, consumers automatically earn Change – a new reward that supports social and environmental causes at no extra cost to them.

Lighthouse MASSIV is free, and focused primarily on helping impact tech companies scale globally through partnerships. To date, more than 100+ partnership discussions have been initiated through the program by 58 participating startups and organizations. Do you know a Nordic or Baltic impact tech company interested in joining our 2025 Fall program?

The applications are open for fall program 2025