Collo, a Finnish technology company offering IoT analysers for optimising industrial liquid processes, announces today a growth funding of €5 million. 

Collo’s analyser can quickly characterise any type of liquid. It offers food and beverage companies continuous, real-time measurement, enabling them to control and optimise their production flows better, saving raw materials and water, and reducing CO2 and waste production.

For example, based on Collo’s market research and estimates, the annual raw milk losses for a typical mid-sized dairy plant can be up to 8 million litres due to the lack of inline process control. With Collo’s analyser, such dairies can significantly reduce these losses while saving up to 11 million kilos of CO2 emissions and 35 million litres of clean water.

The sensor is compatible with any liquid in the plant, replacing the need for multiple traditional sensors. Furthermore, its analytics and machine learning capabilities provide actionable insights for plant management rather than mere measurement data. This allows food and beverage industry operators to manage processes without having to maintain sensors or interpret raw sensor data.

According to  Matti Järveläinen, co-founder and CEO of Collo:

“The global food and beverage industry is going through a significant transformation driven by climate change, rising demand for sustainable operations, and increasing environmental regulation.

Major market leaders have established strategic priorities to cut emissions by half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.”

“All savings are realised through process optimisation using existing infrastructure. Any processing company can implement Collo analysers to bring their plants to the IoT era and make their processes sustainable without a need for large investments in new production lines,” Järveläinen explains.

Collo’s current customers include global food and beverage companies such as dairy giants Fonterra, Danone, and Valio. 

As well as reducing product losses in n-product pushouts, the technology has also proven beneficial in Clean-in-Place (CIP) process optimisation, or fermentation process optimisation, which is the basis for many “Food 2.0” products.

Swedish SEB Greentech Venture Capital and FORWARD.one, co-led the round which was joined by existing investor, Scale Capital.

Mikko Huumo, Investment Manager at SEB Greentech VC, shared:

“It is more critical than ever for process plants to invest in technologies that help cut emissions and conserve water fast.

Collo offers laboratory-level technology and precision in a cost-effective format, enabling any processing industry plant to achieve this. Major global industry players are already trusting Collo’s solution in process optimisation.”

“The analyser Collo has developed is truly groundbreaking. We are impressed by Matti and his team and are thrilled to join them in their journey to become a leader in liquid analytics,” says Riemer Smink, Managing Partner at FORWARD.one.

Lead image: Collo. Photo: uncredited.