Senoptica, innovative foodtech startup that combats food waste, closes funding round

Posted on: 18 May 2023

The UN Food Waste index notes that if food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. Estimates suggest that 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed. 

Senoptica Technologies is on a mission to help halve food waste by 2030 on fresh packaged foods. The technology at its core is a novel packaging sensor that can measure the atmosphere surrounding the food in fresh food packs. The sensor can indicate the condition of the food in real time and help to avoid good food being thrown away.

Picture shows the sensor being illuminated inside a pack of food. The sensor is created by a food safe ink that is printed directly onto the inside of food packaging. The Senoptica sensor measures the oxygen level inside the food packaging in real time. Image: Senoptica.

Over the last two years the company has successfully produced the deep-tech solution at industrial scale and achieved a clean bill of health in independent food safety testing. Senoptica is presently piloting the technology with a renowned global retailer and a large European food company. 

Senoptica is raising a total of €1.5m in convertible debt, with a first close of €550k. This latest funding round will enable the company to achieve regulatory approval, complete the retailer pilot and make first sales. The round is being led by existing investors and Enterprise Ireland will also participate. 

“We are delighted to make this first close on our €1.5m bridging round, particularly given the difficult funding environment at present,” said Brendan Rice, CEO & Co-Founder of Senoptica. 

“This funding will enable us to complete the final hard yards of our pre-revenue journey and help us get to first sales. The climate emergency needs technologies like ours to get to market as quickly as possible to mitigate the effects of climate change. We are excited to be playing our part in solving one of the greatest challenges facing the world today.” 

The sensor is formed from a food safe ink that is printed into the food packaging. The picture shows the illumination of the active materials of the food safe ink that mean the sensor can measure the oxygen inside the food packaging in real time. Image: Tristan Hutchison

The Senoptica technology is designed to work on the packaging that over half of the world’s fresh food is packed in. Food waste associated with this type of packaging is costing global retailers over €27 billion per year in lost sales and contributing massively to their emissions. 

The food safe ink can also be printed onto labels for manual application and allow oxygen measurement in real time. Here, pink labels are visible on blue tape. Image: Tristan Hutchison.

This funding will allow the company to get the technology to market and deploy it for the first time. The technology will help global retailers increase revenues, reduce food waste and decrease carbon emissions along the entire supply chain.

Senoptica, which employs four people full time today, expects to have regulatory approval by the end of this year and aims to launch the technology in Q2 2024. The company plans to create an additional 15 jobs over the next two years. 

• Tags:
• Innovation
• Sustainability