What Trifecta Tech Foundation does

Trifecta Tech Foundation (Stichting Trifecta Tech Foundation) is a Dutch non-profit foundation founded in April 2024 and headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, recognized by the Netherlands Tax Authority as a Public Benefit Organisation (ANBI) and by NGOsource as a US 501(c)(3) equivalent Public Charity. The organization develops and maintains memory-safe, Rust-based open-source replacements for widely-deployed C-based critical infrastructure utilities. Its portfolio is organized around three infrastructure initiatives and two ecosystem initiatives. Infrastructure projects include sudo-rs (privilege boundary, default sudo in Ubuntu 25.10 and 26.04 LTS), ntpd-rs and statime (time synchronization, with Kalman-based PTP and NTPv5 support, deployed at Let's Encrypt), nts-pool (an NTS pooling design solving the certificate-sharing limitation of DNS-based pooling), allowd, and an ssh-server POC. Data compression projects include zlib-rs (default gzip implementation in Firefox 151.0.0, >10% faster than zlib-ng for relevant chunk sizes), libzstd-rs (first released June 2026), and bzip2-rs (approximately 14% faster than C bzip2 in compression). Ecosystem initiatives include 'Make Rust faster than C' (a codegen initiative with upstream Rust compiler contributions including #[loop_match], #[cfg_select], explicit tail calls, and Miri AVX-512 emulation) and teach-rs (university-level Rust curriculum).

The foundation's software is distributed exclusively through open-source channels: Linux distribution packaging (Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, NixOS, Wolfi Linux, AerynOS, PostmarketOS, Arch), GitHub repositories under the trifectatechfoundation organization, and crates.io for Rust ecosystem consumption. There is no commercial product pricing. Revenue is generated through (1) recurring annual sponsorships (Gold at €40,000/year, Silver at €20,000/year) with AWS and Google as confirmed Silver sponsors; (2) project-specific feature funding from foundations including NLnet, Sovereign Tech Agency, NGI Zero Core, ICANN (disclosed grant of $437,121 for nts-pool), SIDN Fonds, and the Dutch Ministry of the Interior; (3) direct corporate co-development funding from Canonical for sudo-rs and ntpd-rs; and (4) GitHub Sponsors individual donations and technical support services for compression adopters. The board comprises three co-founders (Erik Jonkers as Chair, Hugo van de Pol as Secretary, Marlon Baeten as Treasurer), with a technical team of approximately eight people spanning staff engineers and maintainers, supplemented by in-kind development support from Tweede golf and co-maintenance with Ferrous Systems.

Name

Trifecta Tech Foundation

Legal name

Stichting Trifecta Tech Foundation

Website

https://trifectatech.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Trifecta Tech Foundation is a Dutch non-profit foundation developing memory-safe, Rust-based open-source replacements for critical C-based infrastructure utilities (sudo, NTP, zlib, bzip2, zstd), adopted by Ubuntu, Firefox, and 8+ Linux distributions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open-source systems infrastructure software

NAICS

Other Computer Related Services (541519), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Critical Infrastructure Protection Platforms & Security Orchestration (Asset Inventory/CMDB, Policy Enforcement) (EUADANAL)

Keywords

• Memory-safe systems software
• Open-source infrastructure
• Rust reimplementation utilities
• Privilege boundary software
• Time synchronization protocols

Headquarters

HQ city

Nijmegen

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship (Gold and Silver levels): Recurring annual sponsorship levels: Gold sponsor at €40,000/year and Silver sponsor at €20,000/year. AWS is Silver sponsor 2025-2026, Google is Silver sponsor 2026.
2. Project-specific feature funding: Direct project funding from funders (NLnet Foundation, Sovereign Tech Fund/Agency, AWS, NGI Zero Core, NGI Zero Entrust, NGI Assure, ICANN Grant Program, SIDN Fonds). Example: €95,000 sought to complete zlib-rs workplan.
3. GitHub Sponsors individual donations: Individual or small company backing via GitHub Sponsors, ranging from €1 one-time to €200/month.
4. Technical support services: Trifecta Tech Foundation offers technical support services for organizations wanting to adopt their data compression software (zlib-rs, libzstd-rs, bzip2-rs).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels13 records

Core offering

Trifecta Tech Foundation develops and maintains memory-safe, Rust-based open-source reimplementations of widely deployed C-based critical infrastructure utilities for Linux, browsers, and Internet services. Its core offerings include sudo-rs, ntpd-rs, statime, nts-pool, zlib-rs, bzip2-rs, libzstd-rs, allowd, and ssh-server, distributed via Linux distributions, crates.io, GitHub, and direct browser/distribution integration.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Project Pendulum: The home for Trifecta Tech Foundation's time synchronization projects, providing modern implementations of the Network Time Protocol (ntpd-rs) and Precision Time Protocol (Statime), as well as the NTS Pool service.

Products and services

• sudo-rs Memory-safe Rust reimplementation of sudo and su, providing a drop-in replacement for the original C-based sudo with a deliberately reduced attack surface (Berlin Criteria), adopted as the default sudo in Ubuntu 25.10 and 26.04 LTS and packaged for Debian, Fedora, Arch, NixOS, Wolfi Linux, AerynOS, and PostmarketOS.
• ntpd-rs Memory-safe Rust implementation of the Network Time Protocol daemon, supporting NTPv5 and NTS, adopted at Let's Encrypt and set as the default time synchronization client and server in upcoming Ubuntu releases. Distributed via official Fedora RPM packages and downstream Linux distribution packaging.
• statime Memory-safe Rust implementation of the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) using Kalman-filter-based clock synchronization, with performance comparable to Linux PTP per Dutch National Metrology Institute measurements. Provides accurate synchronization error estimates for time-critical infrastructure.
• nts-pool Network Time Security (NTS) pooling service designed as a load-balancing proxy that passes NTS key exchange connections to underlying servers, preserving compatibility with existing NTS clients while solving the certificate-sharing security problem of DNS-based pooling.
• zlib-rs Memory-safe Rust reimplementation of the zlib compression library, API-compatible with the C reference, with SIMD-accelerated avx512 intrinsics and runtime multiversioning. Faster than zlib-ng by over 10% for relevant chunk sizes and shipped in production by Mozilla Firefox 151.0.0 for gzip (de)compression.
• bzip2-rs Memory-safe Rust reimplementation of the bzip2 compression library produced via c2rust translation and cleanup, with ~14% faster compression than the C reference and significantly easier cross-compilation. Used as the default backend of the bzip2 Rust crate (v0.6.0+).
• libzstd-rs Memory-safe Rust implementation of the Zstandard (zstd) compression algorithm targeting a drop-in replacement for the C reference zstd implementation; Trifecta's third compression project after zlib and bzip2.
• allowd Allowd, a privilege-boundary component maintained by the foundation as part of its privilege-boundary initiative, supported by NGI Zero Core.
• ssh-server Proof-of-concept memory-safe SSH server hosted in the Trifecta Tech Foundation's GitHub organization.
• Technical support services for adopters Trifecta Tech Foundation offers technical support services for organizations wanting to adopt its data compression software (zlib-rs, libzstd-rs, bzip2-rs), complementing the open-source releases.

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, minor and core.

• CanonicalflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCanonical provides sponsorship funding (listed on homepage as supporter) and direct co-development for sudo-rs and ntpd-rs. Funded Milestone 5 of sudo-rs workplan. Made sudo-rs default in Ubuntu 25.10 (October 2025) and announced ntpd-rs as default in upcoming Ubuntu releases (March 2026).
• MeinbergminorOthersListed as an initiative supporter on the homepage (related to time synchronization, given Meinberg is a major time/frequency technology vendor).
• Tweede golfflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTweede golf provides in-kind support as the primary development partner. They built the bulk of zlib-rs (2024), provide ongoing maintenance support (2024, 2025, 2026), and originated the sudo-rs project. Tweede golf is the organization from which Trifecta Tech Foundation's projects originated. Co-developed sudo-rs with Ferrous Systems.
• Prossimo (Internet Security Research Group)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerISRG's Prossimo initiative was the originator of the memory-safe NTP and sudo/su projects. In July 2024, sudo-rs moved to Trifecta Tech Foundation as its new long-term home. Prossimo's history is closely intertwined with the foundation's origins.
• Rust EduminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPast initiative supporter for the Education initiative (teach-rs university course).
• Rust FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPast initiative supporter and co-author of EU memory safety policy statement. Rust Foundation's Rebecca Rumbul contributed to the joint statement "Improving Europe's cybersecurity posture through memory safety".
• Internet Security Research Group (ISRG)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerISRG (parent of Prossimo) is a coalition member of Nonprofit Cyber alongside Trifecta Tech Foundation, and was the originator of the memory-safe zlib and sudo/su projects through Prossimo. Co-author of EU memory safety policy statement (Josh Aas as contributor).
• Ferrous SystemsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFerrous Systems is co-maintainer of sudo-rs, having built the original implementation alongside Tweede golf when the project was initiated by ISRG's Prossimo project in 2023. Six engineers from Ferrous Systems and Tweede golf spearheaded development.
• Todd C. Miller (sudo maintainer)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerTodd C. Miller, maintainer of original sudo for over thirty years, has collaborated closely with sudo-rs team since January 2023. Joined initial team meetings, contributed to fixes via coordinated disclosures, and Trifecta Tech Foundation has contributed fixes back to original sudo (e.g., timestamp file redesign in sudo 1.9.15, password input hardening).
• OpenSSF (Open Source Security Foundation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-author of the EU memory safety policy statement "Improving Europe's cybersecurity posture through memory safety" alongside Trifecta Tech Foundation, Siemens Mobility, Sovereign Tech Agency, Google, Linux Foundation, Rust Foundation.
• Linux FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-author of the EU memory safety policy statement "Improving Europe's cybersecurity posture through memory safety" alongside Trifecta Tech Foundation and other secure-by-design experts.
• Siemens MobilityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-author of the EU memory safety policy statement "Improving Europe's cybersecurity posture through memory safety".

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Mozilla Foundation: The nonprofit behind Firefox, which ships Trifecta's zlib-rs in production as of Firefox 151.0.0. Comparable as a mission-driven nonprofit building and stewarding open-source internet software, but at significantly larger scale and with a broader product portfolio (browser, services, advocacy).
• Apache Software Foundation: A major US-based nonprofit that stewards the Apache open-source project portfolio. Comparable as a nonprofit foundation funding and stewarding critical internet infrastructure software, but with a much broader portfolio and different governance model (project-based rather than initiative-based).
• Eclipse Foundation: A nonprofit that hosts and stewards open-source projects in IoT, Java, and enterprise software. Comparable as a foundation stewarding critical open-source infrastructure with corporate sponsorship, but with a much broader and more enterprise-focused project portfolio.
• Linux Foundation: The largest open-source foundation, hosting projects like Linux itself, Kubernetes, and many core internet infrastructure projects. Trifecta co-authored the December 2025 EU memory-safety statement with the Linux Foundation. Comparable as an umbrella nonprofit for critical open-source infrastructure with corporate sponsorship, but operates at much larger scale and broader scope.

Emerging players

• Chainguard: A commercial company focused on software supply chain security, which previously funded Trifecta's zlib-rs through Prossimo and builds memory-safe container images. Comparable as a company addressing memory-safety and supply chain security at the OS/distribution layer, but operating commercially rather than as a foundation.
• Software Freedom Conservancy: A US-based nonprofit that supports open-source projects through fiscal sponsorship, legal assistance, and copyleft advocacy. Comparable as a nonprofit supporting critical open-source infrastructure projects, but with a different mission focus (copyleft stewardship vs. memory-safe rewrites).

Direct peers

• NLnet Foundation: A Dutch public-benefit foundation that funds open-source projects in digital rights, privacy, and internet infrastructure. NLnet is one of Trifecta's largest funders and also operates NGI Zero programs. Comparable as a European nonprofit granting money to open-source infrastructure software, with a similar NL-headquartered profile and grant-based funding model.
• OpenSSF (Open Source Security Foundation): A cross-industry nonprofit focused on improving open-source software security. Trifecta joined OpenSSF's policy coalition via the December 2025 EU memory-safety joint statement and is a Nonprofit Cyber coalition peer. Comparable as a nonprofit focused on securing the open-source software supply chain through collective action.
• Rust Foundation: A non-profit foundation stewarding the Rust programming language ecosystem. Trifecta contributes substantial upstream Rust compiler work and benefits from the Rust Foundation's language stewardship; both organizations co-signed the December 2025 EU memory safety policy statement. Comparable as a Rust-ecosystem-focused nonprofit with corporate sponsorship and grant funding.
• Prossimo / Internet Security Research Group (ISRG): ISRG's Prossimo initiative is the most direct peer: a nonprofit initiative specifically focused on rewriting critical internet infrastructure (NTP, sudo, zlib, TLS) in memory-safe languages. Prossimo originated the sudo-rs and zlib-rs projects that now live at Trifecta Tech Foundation, making them the closest analogue and historical parent.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/trifectatechfoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trifecta-tech-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Trifecta Tech Foundation