The Hottest Startup On The Market Plants Trees While You Commute

March 26, 2020 - By: Baystreet Staff


We’ve come a long way in a short time since ride-sharing emerged as a mainstream offering. Now, there’s even an app that lets consumers participate in one of the biggest trends of the decade without leaving an environmental footprint.

It’s the app that does what Uber and Lyft don’t, or can’t afford to. 

Downloading it and hitching a ride with it means planting trees along the way. It also means, for the first time in our short ride-sharing history, having the option to choose to hail an EV or a hybrid to cut down on CO2. 

The app is from Facedrive, and it’s not just another ride-sharing service--it’s the next-generation model, and it’s working to help the environment. 

What Riders Want

What the younger generation of riders want is exactly what the environment wants: An environmentally friendly solution to the mega-trend of sharing--and in this case, sharing rides. 

In other words, they want the cliche of “sharing is caring” to mean something. 

Millennial investors are nearly twice as likely to invest in companies or funds that target specific social or environmental outcomes. 

Where Uber missed out, Facedrive steps in. And the biggest problem is pollution. 

The ride-sharing segment is experiencing explosive growth, but what generations from Millennials on down can’t countenance is the pollution. Transportation is the America’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, overtaking electric power a few years ago.

And the evidence of ride-sharing pollution is mounting just as quickly as Uber and Lyft are expanding.  

A recent study by the Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that the average (U.S.) ride-hailing trip results in 69% more pollution than whatever transportation option it displaced. 

“It’s not just that millennials, and younger generations in general, are increasingly opting out of the expenses and hassles of owning and parking a car,” Facedrive CEO Sayan Navaratnam told Oilprice.com in a recent interview. “It’s phenomenally bigger than that: Millennials demand more conveniences, and they demand that they be green. We are giving them that before anyone else does.” 

Because it offsets any possible CO2 emissions, and for the very first time in ride-sharing history, gives customers the choice to be even more environmentally conscious. 

This is innovative, state-of-the-art, technology. FD’s in-app algorithm calculates estimated CO2 emissions for each car journey and allocates a monetary value to Forest Ontario. Toronto Parks and Tree Foundation.

That makes ride-sharing less polluting.

Facedrive allows its riders to choose between EVs, hybrids and traditional cars. It’s a choice no one’s ever given consumers, and it means that it pleases everyone. For all those riders who are fine with the conventional, Facedrive is by no means sidelining them. They’re just partially offsetting the related emissions.  

This resonates hugely with celebrities and the younger generations. It also resonates hugely with riders of any stripe because they won’t be paying any premiums for offsetting, nor will drivers lose any of their fare to pay for the green initiative. It’s a win-win for all, and the City of Toronto will also reap the benefits, which means that officialdom is solidly on board. 

What the Market Demands

And it’s not just riders demanding a new model for ride-sharing--the market demands it, too. 

There is an ethics squeeze going on right now and it’s pressuring major hedge funds to move money into things that are environmentally and socially responsible. 

They’re doing it very willingly, too, because they have seen which way the profit winds are blowing.  

Look no further than Jeff Bezos, the richest man on the planet, who just committed a whopping $10 billion to a Global Earth Fund. Or, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock--one of the world’s largest hedge funds--who now describes climate change as a “defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects”. 

A major capital shift is coming, maybe sooner than we anticipated. Green stocks could be set to eclipse the current technology monopolies, and even the world’s top oil traders are going green. 


Facedrive caught on to the mega-trend years ago. 

“We’re all about grabbing onto the biggest trends in tech before they’re mega-trends. So that takes us back to 2016, when we first came up with the idea. Whenever a major new trend emerges, it’s the job of the truly innovative to step back and say ‘OK, this is an explosively great idea - so what’s wrong with it?’ When you figure that out, and you’ve got the right network and the right people behind you, you can jump in on one of the biggest trends and disrupt a massive market at exactly the right time,” Navaratnam said.  

The problem for Uber was one of timing: This great idea emerged simultaneously with environmentally friendly investing, and both became more than passing fads but they failed to keep step with one another.

And Facedrive’s goal to build a sustainable multi-billion-dollar global organization in the Transportation as a Service (TaaS) industry, isn’t just playing lip service to Millennial demands. It’s “single purpose” is to become the #1 Eco-Friendly, Socially Responsible TaaS platform in any market it enters.

The App That Plans To Take On Uber

Facedrive has already planted 3,500 trees and expects to have plant ~68,000 trees in 2020, while offsetting around 2.1 million kg of CO2.

And rides are on the steady upswing, with August-October 2019 alone experiencing 76% growth:


The next big push comes in Q3-Q4 of this year, when Facedrive targets expansion into U.S. and European markets.  

The app itself is seamless, and not only makes it easy for riders to choose--for the first time--whether they want an EV, a hybrid or a conventional car; but it also lets them watch their carbon footprint being erased and keeps track, live, of Facedrive’s tree-planting operations. 


And it’s much more than just an eco-friendly way to ride-share--it’s ethical in more ways than one because the company recognizes that drivers are the key to its success and its guiding principles include one very important aspect that has been left out along the way: Drivers and their families deserve to earn more. 

The app isn’t just seamless for riders, it’s seamless for drivers and offers them platform choices that they’ve never had before. 

Facedrive’s reputation as an ethical, principle-driven company in a high-growth space has already filled its partnership pipeline with some huge names, including a deal with Canada’s Tier-1 telecoms provider to give free phones and major plan discounts to ‘Facedrivers’, and a deal with a Canadian commercial banking giant. 

But the pipeline is already much bigger than that: 

Facedrive isn’t just latching onto the explosive ride-sharing segment--it’s changing the model. And all that tree-planting that it’s doing in Canada right now is headed for the U.S. and European markets where a bigger population has more people concerned about their own environmental impact. 

Facedrive wanted to take something as simple as hailing a ride and turn it into a collective force for change, and it’s doing just that. 

You can download the app here:
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.facedrive
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/facedrive/id1140462383

Other companies set to ride the new wave of environmentally friendly alternatives:

Shopify Inc (TSX:SHOP) is a Canadian e-commerce company. More than 500,000 companies rely on Shopify’s real-time e-commerce, including Tesla, Budweiser and Red Bull, among many others. Shopify makes purchasing goods and services easy for anyone – and in a time where convenience is king, Shopify surely has staying power.

In addition to its revolutionary approach on e-commerce, Shopify is also delving into blockchain technology, making it a promising pick for investors, especially given that the sector is red hot right now. 

BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE) is a Canadian giant. Founded in 1980, the company, formally The Bell Telephone Company of Canada is composed of three primary subsidiaries. Bell Wireless, Bell Wireline and Bell Media, however throughout its push into the position of one of Canada’s top telco groups, it has bought and sold a number of different firms. 

BCE is also at the forefront of the Internet of Things movement in Canada. Its Machine to Machine solutions are being used by numerous businesses throughout North America and its new LTE-M network is sure to rapidly increase the adoption of these solutions.

Power Financial Corp (TSX:PWF) has been in the finance industry since 1984. The company operates in three segments: Lifeco, IGM and Pargesa Holding SA (Pargesa). And, with its holdings in a diversified portfolio spanning the United States and Europe, Power Financial is a leader in its field.

Focusing its investments in emerging industries, Power Financial stands to benefit by riding this wave into the future. The company’s forward-thinking attitude and liberal approach to technology is sure to leave investors satisfied. 

Shaw Communications Inc (TSE:SJR.B): Shaw Communications, a giant in the Canadian telecoms sector, saw a drop in its share price following its disappointing forecasted earnings growth in 2017. In a sector that is set to see growth, undervalued and experienced companies such as this can make for a great hold play.

Shaw owns a ton of infrastructure throughout Canada and its cloud services and open-source projects look to address some of the biggest issues that its customers might face before the customers even face them.  

With a market cap of $13.73 billion, Shaw Communications is going to be a big player in the sector for quite some time to come, and as it nears its 52-week low this could be a great time to pick up a telecoms giant.

The Descartes Systems Group Inc. (TSX:DSG) (commonly referred to as Descartes) is a Canadian multinational technology company specializing in logistics software, supply chain management software, and cloud-based services for logistics businesses. The company is making waves in the tech industry with its futuristic products and visionary leadership.

Recently, Descartes announced that it has successfully deployed its advanced capacity matching solution, Descartes MacroPoint Capacity Matching. The solution provides greater visibility and transparency within their network of carriers and brokers. This move could solidify the company as a key player in transportation logistics which is essential in the world of commerce.

By. Joao Piexe

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Forward-Looking Statements

This publication contains forward-looking information which is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements in this publication include that the demand for ride sharing services will grow; that the demand for environmentally conscientious ride sharing services companies in particular will grow; that Facedrive will be able to fund its capital requirements in the near term and long term; and that Facedrive will be able to carry out its business plan. These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Risks that could change or prevent these statements from coming to fruition include changing governmental laws and policies; the company’s ability to obtain and retain necessary licensing in each geographical area in which it operates; the success of the company’s expansion activities; the ability of the company to attract a sufficient number of drivers to meet the demands of customer riders; the ability of the company to attract drivers who have electric vehicles and hybrid cars; the ability of the company to keep operating costs and customer charges competitive with other ride-hailing companies; and the company’s ability to continue agreements on affordable terms with existing or new tree planting enterprises. The forward-looking information contained herein is given as of the date hereof and we assume no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

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