Candace Ngok, Co-Founder & CEO ScopeZer0

Can you briefly introduce yourself and ScopeZer0 – what are you building, and what was the moment that made you decide to dedicate your work to climate tech?

I'm Candace, Cofounder of ScopeZer0 and an experienced impact venture builder. At ScopeZer0, we're currently building a carbon data AI engine with the mission to make climate impact tracking, reporting and reduction accessible to small-medium businesses and to empower operators who aren't climate-experts to get on board.

ScopeZer0 is really a culmination of my experience building climatech ventures and advising innovation ecosystem-organisations to think about carbon abatement potential front and centre rather than treating it as an afterthought. But the reality is most people aren't experts in this, and they usually get overwhelmed by the complexity very quickly. I decided that making carbon impact tracking accessible is what I want to dedicate my time to solving, because it's just too hard to wait around for someone else to build something you want to see and use yourself!

Every founding story has its own turning points. How did ScopeZer0 come to life, how did you find your co-founders, and what has been the most important lesson from the journey so far?

My cofounder and I met at a climatech cofounder matching program. We were both very open to exploring whether making carbon impact data accessible is a real problem worth solving, and we're very flexible in terms of how we're going to solve it. You add similar vision in mind, that's when we know we are going to be great partners in founding a business together. 

The most important lesson we've learnt so far is that building a startup with someone requires a very, very BIG leap of faith. Once you've decided to take this leap, you kind of just have to trust your gut and your partner. That builds the foundational team dynamics that will permeate everything you do together as well as the kind of company / team you want to build. 

For people who are not deep into carbon accounting: what is the problem companies face today, and how does ScopeZer0 help them solve it in a smarter way?

Due to tightening regulatory requirements across most OECD countries for organisations to report on their carbon footprint, the carbon and energy technology market was valued at $5.4 billion (as a sub-segment of the technology market) in 2024. It is expected to grow significantly due to the sheer number of companies entering into an expanding "mandatory reporting" bracket over the next 5 years. Most platforms you see today are built for professionals who have expertise in using complex software. We see ScopeZer0 as an AI-service alternative rather than a software solution - we do the work for people so you don't have to become a carbon accounting expert - much like how Canva makes graphic design accessible so you don't have to be a trained graphic designer to make beautiful visuals. 

ScopeZer0 turns utility bills into emissions insights. What did you see in this overlooked data source that others might miss?

Utility bills are already emission sources for every organisation - what ScopeZer0 does differently is the AI extraction and validation capability. Traditionally organisations use energy management software, building management software, and carbon reporting software to cross reference data points, find insights and usually spent many, many manual hours in the process. We eliminate all that manual work and put everything in one place.  

As a female founder in climate tech, what has shaped your experience most and what advice would you give to other women who are considering building in this space? 

As a female founder and a cultural minority in Australia, I think most people you meet still have a certain preconceived idea of what a founder should look like or act like. I'd like to think that these are subconscious bias at best, blatant sexism and ageism at worst. I think if you want to pursue the path of building your own startup as a female founder, especially in technology, you need to be prepared to focus on creating value for the people you are building for, and filter out all the noise that at times get really loud all around you.  

If we look five to ten years ahead, what role do you hope ScopeZer0 will play in making climate action easier, more measurable, and more embedded in everyday business decisions?

In 5 years' time, I hope ScopeZer0 will be the default AI companion for every operator in SMEs across the world to understand their carbon emissions for every decision they make for the businesses and how meaningful action can be taken easily, driven by the data ScopeZer0 shows. What we're seeing now with AI development in organisations will make the next 5-10 years extremely hard to predict. But if we look at AI as a great leveler... that the things that used to cost us a lot of time and resources to make / build / do will become cheaper, more abudant and much, much easier, I see ScopeZer0 doing exactly that for carbon tracking and decarbonisation. 

Follow ScopeZer0 here to learn more about their story and connect with Candace via Linkedin.