Rimba

What do they actually do

Rimba is a SaaS platform that pulls operational and documentary data from industrial energy and fuels sites—such as SCADA/time‑series meters, ERPs, SharePoint/email, and uploaded PDFs—and converts it into structured, auditable records. It monitors data streams for gaps and anomalies and auto‑populates regulator and registry reports for programs like LCFS, RFS, ISCC, and air permits (homepage; RNG page; YC profile).

In practice, customers connect their data sources, the system extracts and normalizes values from meters and unstructured documents, reconciles mass balances and flags issues, then generates forms, audit packages, dashboards, and scheduled summaries for reviewers and verifiers. Rimba highlights use by operations, compliance, and finance teams, with a named customer case (Novilla RNG) reporting faster reporting and higher accuracy, and an RNG page citing large time savings from automation (Novilla case study; RNG page).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Compliance manager at an RNG or biofuels producer: Spends most of their time assembling spreadsheets and PDFs, reconciling mismatches, and answering auditor requests instead of focusing on compliance strategy and on‑time submissions (RNG page; Novilla case study).
• Site operations or plant manager: Needs reliable meter and mass‑balance data across SCADA, weighbridges, and invoices but often deals with missing or inconsistent inputs that require manual fixes and delay production decisions (homepage; ISCC case study).
• Finance / credits team: Handles issuance and tracking of credits/certificates; revenue is delayed and reconciliation effort increases because evidence is scattered across emails, PDFs, and ERP exports (Novilla case study; RNG page).
• Sustainability or regulatory director at a trader/aggregator: Must produce multiple regulatory reports from the same project data and spends time translating datasets into different registry formats and substitution rules rather than improving supply strategy (ISCC case study; YC profile).
• IT / data engineer in the enterprise energy team: Owns SCADA/historian, SharePoint, and other system connections; spends time maintaining fragile connectors, mappings, and security setups that break with system changes (homepage; Berkeley profile).

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Run short, paid pilots with RNG and biofuels producers by connecting to a single site’s SCADA/SharePoint and delivering the next audit‑ready filing; require a public case study, reference, and measurable KPIs at exit (Novilla case study; RNG page).
• First 50: Hire 1–2 AEs for fuels/renewables, systematize outbound to compliance and plant ops, and close via partnerships with compliance consultancies/verifiers; ship quick‑start connectors and use webinars plus technical case studies to convert mid‑market buyers (homepage; ISCC case study; Berkeley profile).
• First 100: Scale through channel/integration partners (SCADA/historian vendors, ERP resellers, traders/aggregators), add a self‑serve tier for smaller sites, deepen registry/verifier integrations to shorten issuance cycles, and invest in SSO/hardened connectors plus solutions engineering for multi‑site deals (YC profile; homepage).

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Compliance/EHS software is a large global category (variously estimated in the tens of billions), but much of that spend is outside fuels and industrial reporting; Rimba’s immediate SAM is narrower within energy and fuels compliance (Ken Research; Market.us).

Bottom-up calculation:

Approximate U.S. facility counts: RNG/biomethane ~914, ethanol 191, biodiesel 48, renewable diesel ~19 → ~1,172 sites. Using an implied ~$50k ARR per customer from founder goals (20 customers → $1M ARR) yields ~$60M U.S. TAM; including ~2,500 biogas sites implies ~$125M (S&P Global; EIA ethanol; EIA biodiesel; EIA renewable diesel; Berkeley profile; American Biogas Council).

Assumptions:

• Average ARR per customer near term is ~$50k, implied by the founder’s 2025 target of ~20 customers and $1M ARR (Berkeley profile).
• Facility counts are treated as largely non‑overlapping across RNG, ethanol, biodiesel, and renewable diesel categories (per cited sources).
• Addressable buyers are direct site operators needing LCFS/RFS/ISCC/permit reporting; traders/aggregators expand the market but are not counted in the core U.S. base.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Locus Technologies: Broad EHS/ESG data management platform that ingests operational data, tracks air/GHG metrics, and generates configurable reports; overlaps on “collect/centralize/report” for industrial sites but is not fuels‑specific.
• Weaver (FuelRules): Accounting/advisory firm with a fuels‑compliance product (FuelRules) that combines software with consulting for LCFS/RFS and related programs; appeals to buyers wanting outsourced reporting.
• Anew Climate: Managed service and platform for RNG/fuels customers covering data tracking, validation, registry submissions, and credit monetization; alternative for teams preferring end‑to‑end services over in‑house automation.
• Flipturn: EV charging and fleet‑charging software that includes automated LCFS credit reporting; overlaps on LCFS reporting but targets electricity/fleet use cases rather than upstream fuel mass‑balance workflows.
• Trinity Consultants: Large environmental consultancy offering fuels regulatory support (LCFS, RFS, verification and reporting); competes as an expert services alternative to adopting new automation software.