Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into up-and-coming startups working on solutions for the packaging industry. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, we are taking a look at 5 promising track and trace startups.
Heat Map: 5 Top Track & Trace Startups
Using our StartUs Insights Platform, covering 1.116.000+ startups & emerging companies, we looked at innovation in the field of packaging technologies. For this research, we identified 73 relevant solutions and picked 5 to showcase below. These companies are chosen based on a data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology among others. Depending on your specific criteria, the top picks might look entirely different.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 startups & emerging companies developing innovative track and trace solutions. Moreover, the Heat Map reveals regions that observe a high startup activity and illustrates the geographic distribution of all 73 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
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Lightning Technologies – Precision Pallet Monitoring
The implementation of track and trace technology at the tertiary packaging stage allows larger batches of goods to be tagged and tracked. The internet of things (IoT) devices and sensors help in tracking shipments in-transit by tagging pallets and other packaging components. Such solutions also allow packaging companies to maintain their brand quality by tackling counterfeit products, in-transit losses, and detecting tampering.
The US-based startup Lightning Technologies offers a complete logistics solution with its Lightning Pallet. Providing the pallet, the technology, and the software to manage it, the solution enables precision IoT pallet tracking and monitoring. The incorporated Lightning Intelligence Modules ensure operation at all times & track temperature, humidity, vibration, or shock, as well as shipment location, down to the individual pallet. This up-to-the-minute information is later sent to a cloud-based dashboard to improve monitoring, quality assurance, and take corrective action if needed.
Linksmart Technologies – Non-Clonable Near-Field Communication (NFC)
For some specific applications, companies require tracking a more granular set of products, for example, a particular stock-keeping unit (SKU). In this case, implementing tracking solutions at the individual unit allows for improved supply chain visibility and distribution. Emerging traceability solutions aim to provide greater transparency in the supply chain while also minimizing the chances of counterfeiting products.
Indian startup Linksmart Technologies utilizes non-clonable NFC tags to provide an affordable tracking solution. In combination with the startup’s smartDNA tamper-detecting, this solution uses radio frequencies and, in some cases, vision technologies, to later read the data via a smartphone. Non-cloneable NFC technology enables companies to understand and trace defective original products and differentiate them from defective fake products.
SpiderLog – Smart In-Packaging Sensor
The packaging of fresh produce and other perishable or temperature-dependent goods face multiple challenges from poor transit conditions to unaccounted losses. IoT sensors, implemented in the packaging itself, keep track of the product’s environment, while in transit and enables companies to monitor the condition of their products along with their location. In-packaging sensors also provide added security from theft and counterfeiting.
SpiderLog is an Italian startup enabling smart tracking using blockchain technology and IoT sensors. The startup’s sensors observe temperature, humidity, light, and acceleration to constantly monitor the environmental conditions of the goods’ location. Using blockchain, the startup also records the occurrence of anomalous events, such as collisions or untimely opening of the package.
SMark Technology – Back-End Track & Trace Solution
Increasingly, product traceability solutions look to go beyond simple functions of barcodes to combine information on product authenticity. This reduces costs for companies as a single solution that performs multiple tracking functions and also provides a centralized overview of the product. Startups are working to incorporate advanced identification technology into high-quality sensors to develop advanced track and trace solutions.
Hungarian startup SMark Technology develops a proprietary anti-counterfeit solution based on its NanoSign technology, using nanotechnology to authentically identify original products. SMark is developing the FakeFinder system, a back-end track and trace solution that detects and identifies at-risk markets. The startup achieves this using NanoSign checks and InfoQR readings, an extension QR code placed on the startup’s own labels. These InfoQR readings further provide product-specific information for the consumer and is useful for tracking logistics.
Authentik – Cloud-Based Serialization
Cloud-based track and trace and serialization solutions enable companies to implement Level 4 package tracking systems. Such systems integrate business processes, global compliance, identity access management, application programming interfaces (APIs), as well as other enterprise-level functions. Emerging track and trace startups help implement Level 4 tracking to manage the operations of manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution.
Pakistani startup Authentik is a Pakistani startup enhancing consumer confidence in products and combating the sale of counterfeit products in critical industries such as pharmaceutical, food, and consumer-packaged-goods (CPG). The startup creates UniTrace, an enterprise platform integrating internal and external serialized item information systems. In turn, the platform enables traceability throughout the supply chain.
What About The Other 68 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence and enable you to achieve your goals faster. The 5 track and trace solutions showcased above are promising examples out of 73 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria, get in touch.
