KU Leuven spin-off quintupled its customer base in 2025 and accelerates international expansion
Optiflux, the Belgian agtech spin-off from KU Leuven specialising in AI-powered quality management for fresh fruit and vegetables, has successfully closed a €2.5mn funding round.
The company said it will use the funds to support the further international rollout of its AI platform, continued product development, and the expansion of its commercial presence in key fruit-producing regions around the world.
“The global fruit industry faces major challenges related to quality, food waste, labour costs, and sustainability,” it said. “Today, quality decisions are still largely based on limited sampling and subjective human assessments, resulting in inconsistent quality, operational inefficiencies, and avoidable losses throughout the supply chain.
“Optiflux aims to fundamentally transform this process by digitising, objectifying, and standardising quality assessment through artificial intelligence, computer vision, and predictive analytics. This enables growers, cooperatives, auctions, packers, storage operators, and retailers to make faster, more consistent, and data-driven quality decisions.”
According to the company, objective quality data increase transparency throughout the supply chain and improves product valuation, helping strengthen the competitiveness of locally grown fruit and vegetables.
It said its technology also enables more accurate shelf-life prediction and optimised storage strategies. As a result, companies can reduce food waste, improve operational efficiency, and make better-informed commercial and logistical decisions.
“Our ambition goes beyond developing software,” said Niels Bessemans, CEO and co-founder of Optiflux. “We are building the digital standard by which the global fruit industry measures, predicts, and manages quality. Just as the global food industry relies on internationally recognised standards such as ISO 22000 to ensure food safety, we believe that quality data in the fruit industry also needs an international standard. This investment marks a significant step toward realising that ambition.”
Since its founding, Optiflux has established a strong international presence. In 2025, the company quintupled its customer base, and today its solutions are used by growers, cooperatives, packers, and storage companies across 16 countries throughout Europe, North America, and South America. It said the growth highlights the increasing demand for objective, data-driven quality assessment within the global fruit industry.
The technology is currently deployed across a broad range of fruit categories, including apples, pears, berries, citrus, cherries, and stonefruit. By making quality data available at scale, Optiflux said it aims to help the entire fresh produce supply chain improve product quality, reduce food waste, and maximise the value of harvested produce.
“This investment enables us to accelerate the international deployment of our technology and further strengthen our position as an innovative partner for the global fruit industry,” said Bessemans. “The challenges surrounding quality, food waste, and efficiency continue to grow worldwide. We believe that data-driven quality management will play a critical role in the future of the fresh produce supply chain.”
Nico Snoeck, investment manager at one of the funders, AIF, commented: “Optiflux combines strong scientific expertise with a clearly validated market need. The company has demonstrated its ability to translate innovative technology into tangible value for the fruit industry. We look forward to supporting the team during this next stage of growth”.
