# Saif Bhatti

> Saif Bhatti is the founder and CEO of Renoster, an Austin-based carbon credit ratings agency that uses remote sensing and open science to grade nature-based carbon projects on whether they actually remove carbon. He started the company in 2019 as anti-poaching technology - a device that listens for gunshots on the African savanna to protect rhinos - and pivoted it into one of the sharpest, most independent watchdogs in the voluntary carbon market. A Northwestern-trained industrial engineer and philosopher turned data scientist, he has helped review hundreds of millions of credits and published deep-transparency reports that have rattled some of the world's largest carbon projects.

- **Role:** Founder & CEO at Renoster Systems
- **Organizations:** Renoster Systems, Techstars Sustainability, Climate Collective
- **Education:** B.S. Industrial Engineering and Philosophy (double major), Northwestern University (McCormick School of Engineering)
- **Known for:** Founded and leads Renoster, an independent carbon credit ratings agency for the nature-based voluntary carbon market, Built an early bioacoustic anti-poaching device field-tested at Thornybush Game Reserve in South Africa, Developed Mercury Rubric, Renoster's flagship platform for reviewing carbon projects with remote sensing and open science

## Career timeline

- **2013** — Commercial property development intern at Land Securities
- **2014** — Environmental Strategist at XL Catlin, working on city risk and climate risk data
- **2018** — Data Engineer at ProMazo; Lead Mechatronics Researcher at McCormick School of Engineering; data science work at Northwestern analyzing snow cover via Google Earth Engine
- **2019** — Founded Renoster as an anti-poaching technology company; built a bioacoustic device to detect gunshots and protect rhinos, field-tested at Thornybush Game Reserve, South Africa
- **2020** — Graduated from Northwestern University
- **2021** — Renoster joined Techstars Sustainability cohort; pivoted toward carbon credit transparency and ratings
- **2022** — Renoster signed an MOU with DeepMarkit; built out Mercury Rubric, its carbon project review platform
- **2023** — Raised a seed round (~$3.8M); published the Kariba Deep Transparency Report
- **2024** — Renoster surpassed 500M nature-based credits reviewed

## Achievements

- Founded and leads Renoster, an independent carbon credit ratings agency for the nature-based voluntary carbon market
- Built an early bioacoustic anti-poaching device field-tested at Thornybush Game Reserve in South Africa
- Developed Mercury Rubric, Renoster's flagship platform for reviewing carbon projects with remote sensing and open science
- Oversaw review of 170+ forestry projects representing 400M-500M+ nature-based carbon credits
- Published the widely cited Kariba Deep Transparency Report (May 2023) on one of the world's largest carbon projects
- Raised roughly $3.9M in total funding including a seed round
- Selected for Techstars Sustainability '21

## Latest updates

- **2023-05** — Published the Kariba Deep Transparency Report, scrutinizing one of the largest carbon offset projects.
- **2023-07** — Closed a seed round of roughly $3.8M for Renoster.
- **2024** — Renoster passed 500M nature-based credits reviewed and shared lessons for the carbon market.

## Links

- Website: https://renoster.co
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saifbhatti/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/saif1457
- GitHub: https://github.com/saif1457

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/saif-bhatti
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-21