Finding Genius: Sanchali Pal, Joro
Joro links spending to carbon emissions and empowers consumers to make better choices for the environment
For more videos such as this one, follow along on Substack (https://findinggenius.substack.com/) This interview was sponsored by Anchin and Silicon Valley Bank
When witnessing drought, food shortages, extreme weather events, and climate change-related problems, most consumers don’t know how small behavioral shifts can have a massive impact on reducing their carbon emissions. Joro, founded by Sanchali Pal, bridges personal finance and carbon intensity data to empower consumers. Per Sanchali, consumer spending affects over 65% of global emissions and Joro analyzes a consumer’s credit card data and informs them on their carbon emission per purchase. The mobile app also advises informed consumers on how they can best reduce their footprint and provides them with an opportunity to buy carbon offsets.
This data on personal emissions shared by Joro is key to creating real change. For example, while most consumers know that the consumption of red meat has a high carbon intensity, most consumers don’t know that buying a t-shirt often has a higher carbon intensity than eating a burger. Similarly, one round-trip flight from San Francisco to New York matches the monthly carbon intensity of the average American.
Over a career that includes stints at Tesla and Dalberg (in Ethiopia and India) and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Sanchali has focused on climate change and hacked together her own solutions to reduce her carbon output. In our conversation, Sanchali discusses beta-testing a solution to this massive problem and scaling a consumer-facing application in a crowded market of mobile apps that compete for consumer attention.
Joro recently announced a $2.5 million seed financing led by Sequoia Capital. Download Joro here!