Democratizing Sustainability: How SOAP AI is Helping SMEs with Rebecca Di Noia

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Zach Young, we sit down with Rebecca Di Noia, the founder of SOAP AI and a former Environmental Sustainability Assessor for the Australian government. Rebecca shares her journey from being a stay-at-home mom to identifying a critical market gap while working as a business advisor. She noticed that small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were consistently overwhelmed by the complexity of applying for government grants and meeting new environmental reporting requirements, inspiring her to create a practical, AI-driven solution.Rebecca details how SOAP AI is being developed in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney to help SMEs with under $2 million in revenue easily assess and report their environmental impact. The tool, slated for a full launch in 2026, will allow businesses to generate necessary documents and policies by simply answering questions or uploading data. Rebecca discusses her strategy of building market awareness through her extensive network of local governments and business groups and her vision to scale the impact through a franchise model, aiming to democratize sustainability for smaller businesses across Australia.