In a world where climate solutions are often measured in hard data, graphs, and metrics, it’s rare to see a project stand out for its emotional resonance.
But that’s exactly what happened during the Camino Hackathon, hosted by Lufthansa Systems and SWISS International Air Lines. In Frankfurt, surrounded by code, strategy decks, and intense collaboration, Carbify didn’t just deliver a working prototype, we captured something far more meaningful: the Winner of the Heart award.
The Camino Hackathon brought together teams from across Europe to tackle challenges posed by leaders in the travel industry. Organized in partnership with the Camino Network, the event challenged participants to create groundbreaking solutions that reimagine the future of travel distribution, with a strong emphasis on sustainability and transparency.
Out of many applicants, Carbify was selected as one of only a few projects to participate. Represented by Jaap, Milos, and Karim, the team spent three intense days immersed in building a solution that aligned fully with their mission: making carbon offsetting trustworthy, transparent, and truly impactful. No gimmicks. No shortcuts. Just real impact, backed by real technology.
Our team focused on a challenge centered around calculating and offsetting the carbon emissions associated with travel bookings. They built a fully functioning prototype that integrated directly with Camino Messenger, enabling real-time carbon footprint analysis and automatic offsetting for bookings across flights, hotels, and car rentals.
The system provided direct insight into the CO₂ emissions linked to Camino transactions and visualized the corresponding reforestation area required to compensate. This was powered by our carbon debit system, underpinned by blockchain technology and real-world agroforestry initiatives.
Based on a test dataset of 5 million travel bookings, the system revealed:
All calculations were traceable, transparent, and built on a verifiable system designed to meet the growing demand for measurable, high-integrity carbon offsetting.
At the conclusion of the hackathon, Carbify was presented with the Heart Award, a recognition from Camino, Lufthansa Systems and SWISS International Air Lines given to one team whose project stood out for its societal relevance and values-driven mission.
While several projects showcased impressive technical solutions, the Heart Award was specifically created to acknowledge the deeper impact a solution can bring, not just to an industry, but to people and the planet. Our approach to integrate blockchain-based carbon debits into the travel ecosystem aligned seamlessly with the hackathon’s broader sustainability objectives.
Carbify has always stood out for doing things differently. Since day one, we have been committed to bringing trust and transparency to carbon offsetting, a space often clouded by greenwashing and vague claims. Instead of relying on outdated offset certificates, Carbify introduced Carbon Debits: verifiable, blockchain-based tokens that represent actual CO₂ absorption, tied to individual trees and monitored with satellite imagery.
The hackathon provided the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how this technology can be integrated into large-scale ecosystems like travel distribution. It also reflected growing industry demand for science-backed, verifiable sustainability tools, especially with the rise of EU and national regulations focused on transparency and accountability.
Winning the Heart Award was more than symbolic. It reflected appreciation for purpose-driven innovation and the relevance of Carbify’s mission to real-world challenges.
This milestone in Frankfurt served as an opportunity to showcase Carbify’s approach to a new audience within the travel and mobility sectors and strengthened the team’s position within a network of companies actively exploring climate-aligned innovation.
The Camino Hackathon was a convergence of vision, urgency, and technical brilliance. But more than that, it was a platform that highlighted what the future of sustainability should look like: transparent, actionable, and rooted in values.
Carbify didn’t just walk away with a working prototype. They walked away with recognition that what they are building, a fully verifiable, socially grounded, tech-enabled climate solution, is designed to meet the needs of tomorrow.
The heart of sustainability is trust. And in Frankfurt, We demonstrated once again that we earn it, one tree at a time.
