Consultants turned decarbonisation tech providers

UAE

Jessica Scopacasa, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Olive Gaea, talks to The Energy Year about the company’s AI-powered platform for sustainability management, decarbonisation and ESG reporting, and about helping UAE companies design net-zero strategies. Olive Gaea is a climate technology company based in the UAE that develops software tools for project lifecycle analysis, carbon accounting and carbon offsetting.

How does Olive Gaea help organisations meet their sustainability goals?
Together with Vivek Tripathi, co-founder and CEO, we set up Olive Gaea in late 2021 to support UAE organisations with carbon accounting, decarbonisation and ESG management. In the beginning, we offered consulting services to entities such as the Dubai Future Foundation, Sobha Realty and Gulf Islamic Investments, helping them establish emissions baselines and develop net-zero strategies.
Meanwhile, having identified the inefficiency of manual data collection, especially for Scope 3 emissions, we developed our Zero software to streamline the process, making it not only faster but also more accurate. By leveraging AI, the tool automates data collection, predictive analysis and sustainability reporting to reduce months of work into minutes.
Launched in Q2 2024, today Zero helps clients such as Dubai Duty Free, Transmed and Bioderma meet stakeholder and regulator demands swiftly, a necessity given upcoming regulations such as the UAE Federal Decree-Law No. (11) of 2024 and Cabinet Resolution No. (67) of 2024, which mandate emissions reporting for organisations emitting more than 500,000 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide. These regulations mark a major shift towards decarbonisation readiness, establishing penalties for those who do not comply, so companies within that category now urgently need carbon accounting software.
Moreover, our platform aligns perfectly with the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, as it allows any organisation to measure their footprint and align with the UAE’s NDC [Nationally Determined Contribution]. When you set the UAE NDC as a goal in our platform, AI automatically calculates the required reductions and the areas where they can be obtained, and it achieves this at a fraction of the cost compared to consultants.

How much funding have you been able to raise?
While developing the platform over a year, we raised USD 1.2 million in our first seed round to complete the product. Currently, we are raising a USD 2.5-million investment bridge, with plans for a Series A by late 2026. The reason for this is that sustainability is constantly evolving, and we are expanding our modules to include ESG risk, sustainable finance and biodiversity impact. At the same time, we are expanding into Europe and APAC regions, with the vision to ultimately go global.

What has been the market’s response to your platform so far?
Response to the launch of Zero has been extremely positive, and we have started onboarding clients who need a fast and accurate solution for ESG reporting and carbon accounting. Interest is growing noticeably driven by upcoming regulations.
Our target clients include companies in sectors such as construction, energy and manufacturing, as well as banks and financial institutions that play a critical role in transition financing. Our platform helps them manage the emissions associated with financing, allowing banks to optimise their portfolios and identify opportunities for transition financing.
As the only solution in the MENA region certified by PCAF [Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials], the global standard for financial emissions accounting, we are building strong partnerships with banks.

What steps are you taking to stay ahead of the competition?
We stay ahead of the competition by closely listening to our clients and truly understanding their pain points. Unlike many competitors who are purely tech companies, we began as consultants and still engage directly with clients to tackle their daily challenges, incorporating those insights into our product.

How important are partnerships for Olive Gaea’s growth and strategy?
Partnerships are vital for us. We work extensively with consultants and join them as technology providers, supporting them in data collection, analysis and number-crunching to reduce project timelines.
The UAE’s ecosystem for tech, AI and sustainability-focused startups has grown remarkably, fostering innovation and driving positive change. This growth will not only drive environmental impact but also significantly contribute to GDP development.

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