qZense Labs - Transforming fresh food supply chain with data

Decoding Shorts - 12

With the emergence of the Internet and AI & ML advancements, a significant emphasis was placed on Supply Chain Management. A wave of fresh-to-home startups erupted with the likes of HyperPure, Amazon Fresh, ninjakart, Udaan & JioMart. While the technology helped proper planning and stocking supplies, the cold chain infrastructure provided proper storage. Many of the incumbents even started 10-15 mins delivery. An efficient supply chain provides super fast delivery but does anyone care for the quality post harvest?

As per the UN estimates, nearly 40% of the food produced in India is either lost or wasted. In 2019, India lost nearly lost ~1 lakh crore worth of post-harvest food. And without any surprise, fruits and vegetables combined account for 16% of the total wastage! Well, Rubal Chib & Dr. Srishti Batra took it upon themselves to solve this problem and formed qZense Labs

Traditionally, the grading or quality check of the food is done manually. However, it did not provide accurate results or led to food wastage. Thus, qZense developed an IoT solution to detect the quality of the food and prevent wastages. They developed a handheld device to detect spoilage in fruits. They used #spectroscopy which uses near-infrared spectral imaging to detect the ripeness and quality of the fruits.

Apart from the handheld device, the startup also provides olfactory sensors to track the changes in the food items stored on the shelf. All the results can be monitored on the web-based dashboard, including analytics on the stored food items. The inventory management, ripeness and spoilage, remaining shelf life - all can be monitored through the dashboard.

qZense Lab’s solutions have been an excellent help for growers, supply chains, including cold storage, wholesalers and retailers, exporters, QSR chains and HoReCa, etc. The startup has gained increased traction for its services from the participants of the entire food supply chain.

The startup was part of the Reliance Industries’ JioGenNext program. Other prominent investors include SOSV, 9Unicorns, The Chennai Angels, Lumis Partners & Indian School of Business. qZense Labs aspires for 5000+ device deployments and expand globally in the next two years. The Co. can address the inefficiencies in the food supply chains and grow exponentially, having the right product and a huge opportunity to address.

PS: The video provides a simple demonstration of their handheld device. We would love to hear your views on technology and startup as a whole!

Content - Rahil Shah