Angels-funded Scope 5 offers big picture on green practices

by Greg Lamm on Tuesday, January 3, 2012, 1:51pm PST

Seattle software startup Scope 5 aims to help companies manage data to help measure energy use or environmental sustainability practices.

Scope 5’s co-founders are former Microsoft software architect and entrepreneur Yoram Bernet and John Daly.

Daly, co-founder of Junxion, said that Scope 5’s software helps companies reduce costs and measure progress on sustainability initiatives – everything from energy use and waste-stream management to fleet management, worker commuting data, and executives' air travel.

Daly said companies typically start out using spreadsheets to manage their sustainability reports. But as the data becomes more complex, companies find it difficult to manage and analyze the information. That’s where Scope 5 comes in, with a cloud-based software service that can manage and analyze the data.

Some companies have chosen or are required by investors to be transparent about their carbon footprint.

Others are venders that have to track their carbon footprint to remain competitive with clients that require green reporting. Companies like Microsoft, for example, track the sustainability practices of supply chain partners.

Scope 5 recently landed two consulting partners and two customers, on the heels of releasing the first version of its software service.

Daly said Scope 5 also has raised funding from angel investors in a convertible debt round. Daly said Scope 5 was not ready to say how much in funding the company had attracted, except to say it was less than $1 million.

Daly said the company was not revealing the names of the investors. Scope 5 has announced that David Billstrom, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, has joined Scope 5’s board in connection with the financing.

Daly was the co-founder of Junxion, a Seattle company that made cellular routers and sold to Sierra Wireless in 2008.