What’s new with Blue Comply? That’s the question I asked Emmy and Troy Vareberg, the co-founders of Vareberg Engineering who are taking a big leap into the startup world with their newest venture called—you guessed it—Blue Comply.
And we really do mean a leap. Recently, the husband-wife duo were crowned winners of the Regional Pitch Competition for the Startup World Cup for their IoT Methane Sensing Apparatus, which was created to continuously monitor the thief hatch on oil and gas storage tanks. By winning the Regional Pitch Competition, they were granted the opportunity to pitch at the global event, which took place October 2-4 in San Francisco.
Although they didn’t win the global competition, we have a feeling that this won’t be the last time we hear about Blue Comply.
From Service to Product
“This whole business is so different from Vareberg Engineering,” Emmy said.
The shift from a service-oriented company to developing a new product has brought them into uncharted waters.
“With Vareberg Engineering, we get out of it exactly what we put into it. It’s just our time, right? That’s what we get to build from. But with this product, it’s a completely different beast—a whole new learning process for us. We have never had to do anything like this before,” Troy said.
“With Vareberg Engineering, we’re out there selling ourselves—our long-standing expertise,” Troy said. “But with Blue Comply, we’re out there selling a product or an idea to someone, and that’s a bit harder. Selling an idea and then backing it up with proof that we have what it takes to get that idea to the finish line is a different kind of challenge.”
Despite the challenges, the company remains optimistic through their support from funding within North Dakota. “The Oil and Gas Research Council in the state is actually how we got this all started,” Emmy said. “We received a matching grant from them in June of 2022, which wrapped up this May. We went back to them in July, and they awarded us a second matching grant. Without that, we probably wouldn’t be even this far—if anywhere.”
Taking on the Competition
Their efforts culminated in competing in the Startup World Cup in San Francisco—a nerve-wracking experience.
“I’m not a public speaker—it’s not my comfort zone, but you know, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Troy said. “It was fun, though, to be involved and meet all the other people.”
Did You Know?
Emmy and Troy were recently interviewed by long-time Fargo INC! contributor John Machacek in our October 2024 issue.
Though they didn’t walk away with the $1 million investment grand prize, the experience was valuable for the promising startup.
“The panel on the first day was a group of seven venture capitalists, each coming from different backgrounds—some were technical, some were more medical-focused, and others were app-related,” Troy said. “So, everyone had their own kind of preference for what they’re looking for when they hear a pitch.”
The Challenges of a New Market
Blue Comply is diving into a market that’s still in its infancy.
“It’s not like we’re just out there creating a better pencil or pen,” Emmy said. “This is something that simply hasn’t been created before.” Their methane detection device doesn’t just measure methane levels; it also measures the position of the hatch on storage tanks. “No one else does both of those things with one device, and no one else actually does it directly at the hatch. Could they? Sure, but we have a patent on it,” Troy said.
Their device could be a gamechanger for oil producers needing to comply with EPA regulations. Their goal is to help producers prove that they’re not leaking methane, avoiding waste emissions charges and unnecessary loss of product.
Family Ties and Team Building
Building a startup often requires bringing in the right people— sometimes even family. In fact, their son Adam has already joined the team.
“He’s really helped,” Emmy said. “Even though he has an engineering degree, he has come on more from the business development angle.”
“The whole startup world—it’s more of a younger person’s game,” Troy said. “He really gets excited and dives into it, whereas Emmy and I have been down the road of starting one business already.”
With a small but dedicated team, they’re pushing forward. And, with new funding they’re looking to grow.
“We’re still figuring out what roles we will need in the future,” Troy said. “We’re not sure what we’ll need until about six months down the road, once we get our Generation 2 out there for testing. I think the next 6 to 12 months will be a very eye-opening time for us to understand what we’ll need moving forward.”
“We’re also focused on research and development to make the product even more effective,” Emmy said.
For now, the duo is handling both Vareberg Engineering and Blue Comply—more than two fulltime jobs.
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