Tampere-based Collo, a tech company offering IoT analyzers for optimizing industrial liquid processes, announced a growth funding of €5 million. The round was co-led by Swedish SEB Greentech Venture Capital and Dutch deep tech investor FORWARD.one, and joined by an existing investor, Danish deep tech investor Scale Capital.
Collo’s unique analyzer can quickly characterise any type of liquid. It offers food and beverage companies continuous, real-time measurement, enabling them to control and optimize 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 losses of raw milk for a typical mid-sized dairy plant can be up to 8 million liters due to the lack of inline process control. With Collo’s analyzer, such dairies can significantly reduce these losses while saving up to 11 million kilos of CO2 emissions and 35 million liters of clean water. The recent growth funding of €5 million will enable Collo to expand its solution globally.
“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,” said Matti Järveläinen, co-founder and CEO of Collo. “Our solution supports the entire industry in becoming more sustainable and efficient. With the backing of the new funding, we are well-prepared to establish a strong presence in global markets.”
Collo’s uniqueness lies in its sensor, analytics, and machine-learning capabilities. 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, as opposed to mere measurement data. This allows operators in the food and beverage industry to manage processes without having to maintain sensors or interpret raw sensor data.
“All savings are realized through process optimization using existing infrastructure. Any processing company can implement Collo analyzers to bring their plants to the IoT era, and make their processes sustainable, without a need for large investments in new production lines,” Järveläinen explained.
Collo’s current customers include global food and beverage companies such as dairy giants Fonterra, Danone, and Valio. While Collo’s solution has found a strong product-market fit in minimizing product losses in product pushouts, the technology has also proven beneficial in other food and beverage applications, such as Clean-in-Place (CIP) process optimization, or fermentation process optimization, which is the basis for many “Food 2.0” products.
“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 optimization. We are very excited to support the team in their next growth phase,” added Mikko Huumo, Investment Manager at SEB Greentech VC.
“The analyzer 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,” said Riemer Smink, Managing Partner at FORWARD.one.
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