Traditional packaging solutions often fall short in real-time tracking and product integrity. Challenges such as counterfeit products, inefficient supply chain management, and environmental concerns have necessitated a shift toward better solutions.
Smart packaging addresses these challenges by integrating technologies like IoT, blockchain, and AI to enhance the package’s functionality. It provides real-time data, improves product security, enhances consumer interaction, and promotes sustainability.
This article explores five growth-stage startups in the packaging sector working on solving critical challenges with Smart packaging. These startups have the potential to grow rapidly, are in a good market position, or can bring game-changing tech to the market in the next 2-3 years. This makes them a great option to partner with, collaborate with, or acquire.
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Here’s the top 5 smart packaging startups:
1. impacX – Making bottles smarter, one cap at a time.
| Founding Year | 2015 |
| Headquarters | HaMerkaz, Israel |
| Total Funding Amount | $1M |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Seed round / $1M |
| Website | impacX.io |
| Innovative Tech | Smart cap solutions for bottles |
ImpacX develops, manufactures, and sells smart cap solutions for water bottles, vitamin pill bottles, cleaning packages, and other products. Their caps can send reminders and notifications to users – about when to use them (for medicines) and notifications to refill (meds or water bottles). These caps can also share usage data and insights with consumers and brands.
Over the past two years, they have greatly grown their IoT platform. Today, it’s the only company with commercially available IoT smart cap platforms for the pharma, beauty, cleaning, and other industries. Leading companies like Danone and Bayer use its products.
Kobi Bentkovski, ImpacX’s CEO, holds an M.Sc in Electrical engineering from Tel Aviv University and an Executive MBA from Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
impacX raised $1M in Seed funding on July 1, 2018.
2. Vesta Smart Packaging – Track refills, automate orders, and save the environment all at once
| Founding Year | 2017 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Total Funding Amount | Publicly not disclosed |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Accelerator/Incubator |
| Website | vestapack.com |
| Innovative Tech | Track contents and automate a refill |
Vesta Smart Packaging aims to reduce the amount of plastic consumed daily. Their smart packaging product records its contents, identifies when it has become empty, and reorders the content automatically for refill.
This solution offers convenience, efficiency, visibility, and a route to eliminating single-use plastic.
For businesses, it offers timely supply to their customers and data on their consumption habits, preferences, frequency, etc. Furthermore, their technology can help you secure the internal supply chain and track business assets around multiple locations.
Its co-founder and COO, Dave Carr, is a Durham University graduate.
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3. Chroma Signet – QR codes connected with blockchain
| Founding Year | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Total Funding Amount | $1.6M |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Venture Round /$1M |
| Website | chromasignet.com |
| Innovative Tech | Uses QR codes to make tracking the supply chain easy |
Chroma Signet uses blockchain-based solutions to provide supply chain transparency and provenance across the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry.
It helps the brands share seed-to-sale supply chain data, in-depth ingredient details, or their brand story with customers.
They use unique QR codes to create smart contracts that make supply chain transparency as easy as slapping a sticker on a product. Signet QR codes help brands verify that the product is genuine in the customer’s hands. Their code can’t be counterfeited or hacked.
Customers can learn the product’s origins and make informed choices about the brands they want to support. Using their services, brands can offer loyalty rewards to customers through NFTs and tokens, exclusive discounts, early bird drops, and more.
The CEO, Marcus Estes, ran this company for a decade. Chroma Signet has raised $1.6M in funding, the latest of which was raised on January 24, 2020.
Author’s Note: Although Signet is not exactly a packaging company, brands can easily implement their technology into their packaging.
4. Cellr – QR and RFID technology to give personalized experiences to consumers
| Founding Year | 2016 |
| Headquarters | Perth, Western Australia |
| Total Funding Amount | Publicly Not disclosed |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Seed Round |
| Website | cellr.co |
| Innovative Tech | Uses QR codes and NFC to connect products with the cloud platform |
Cellr uses QR codes and NFC/RFID technologies to connect physical or digital products with a cloud platform. Their technology allows brands to introduce personalized experiences (gifting, wishes, messages) for their customers into the products simply through unique QR codes.
They also claim to create bespoke solutions for brands that integrate seamlessly into manufacturing and packaging processes. Their solution offers additional benefits, such as geo-targeting and data collection features.
This can help companies refine their marketing based on customer demographics in specific regions. To protect brand authenticity, companies partner with product verification services like BWGA.
The founder and CEO, Chris Braine, has over a decade of entrepreneurial experience. Their latest funding was raised from a Seed round on Jan 1, 2024.
5. LivingPackets – Recyclable, trackable, and versatile packaging for logistic companies
| Founding Year | 2016 |
| Headquarters | Pays de la Loire, France |
| Total Funding Amount | Publicly not disclosed |
| Last Funding Round/Amount | Publicly not disclosed |
| Website | www.livingpackets.com |
| Innovative Tech | Its Box is sustainable, durable, and digitally connected |
LivingPackets is addressing a major challenge in the logistics industry. The logistics sector is recognized among the most polluting ones. This startup is trying to solve this with its product – the Box.
LivingPackets – Full range of Smartpackagings
‘The Box’ is made from recyclable plastic and other materials, eliminating one-time-use packaging boxes often used in shipping and logistics. It also includes various sensors to make the packaging smarter, trackable, and secure.
They have also added an e-ink display to update the shipping and recipient details easily and on the go. This can help logistic companies reduce waste and move towards a circular economy.
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Authored By – Hemanth Shenoy, Market Research
