Tampere, Finland, 2010–2017. At the local university, a group of self-proclaimed nerds take on an external assignment: developing new techniques for measuring chemical compounds in tough industrial conditions. Their work leads to an innovative radio-frequency tool that becomes the foundation of scale-up Collo.
Imagine one of Europe’s large dairy companies. The pipes used for transportation of liquids stretch for several kilometres around the factory. It has become time for a production switch – from vanilla to strawberry yoghurt – and the pipes have just been cleaned and are now water-filled. The problem? Well, there are two main issues.
First, the dairy has been using excessive amounts of water to ensure no detergent remains. Second, as yoghurt pushes the water forward, they blend, and it is hard to know when it’s pure yoghurt that reaches the other end. Without that knowledge, the valve will likely be switched too late – sending output to the drain instead of the product tank.
“The average loss of raw milk at dairies is around 4 percent. And every percentage point saved across the EU is worth about one billion Euros”, says Collo CEO, Jani Puroranta.
We went straight to the customer, rather than spending years improving the sensor before asking if anybody is interested. We did it more American than Finnish style.
What Collo provides is an analyser, based on a radio-frequency sensor, which is installed in the pipes. The analyser sends radio waves into the liquid and reads signal changes. This creates a unique liquid fingerprint, based on properties such as permittivity and ionic viscosity. Machine learning algorithms then translate the data into operable information – “this is yoghurt only”.
In simple terms, the analyser enables real-time control of liquid content, without losing accuracy in tough conditions – preventing both waste and contamination.
Now, let’s go back a bit in time.
Doctor of Science and major in Materials Science – as well as current Collo CTO – Matti Järveläinen, was part of the Tampere University student trio who conducted the RF experiments 2010–2017.
“We realised that it worked really well and decided to form the company. As a next step, we went straight to the customer, rather than spending years improving the sensor before asking if anybody is interested. We did it more American than Finnish style.”
After an intense testing phase, involving companies from several industries, Collo decided to target the food and beverage sector, with a special focus on dairies.
"We noticed these had a big problem in their pushouts and, in addition, the market is huge. When we started calling to sound out interest among the biggest European dairies, it turned out all of them wanted to start piloting”, Matti Järveläinen says.
The strategy attracted early angel investors, followed by Nordic venture rounds and later institutional funding. With each stage, Collo grew its customer base – which now includes major European dairies, as well as global food and beverage brands. Installations have begun across Europe, with plans to scale internationally, beyond its home continent.
CEO Jani Puroranta joined in 2025, bringing extensive experience from both industry and the startup world. Headcount has grown as well, now totalling 19.
“We have diluted the nerdiness level of the company a little bit, also having marketing people, and so on, aboard”, Matti Järveläinen quips.
The general atmosphere at Collo’s Tampere offices is one of optimism.
“The validations are long but once done and you’ve become accepted by the industry, it’s a lot easier. I think we’re starting to feel that shift, making scaling to thousands of facilities in Europe and beyond possible. Then there are other industries, too”, Jani Puroranta says.
The RF device that Collo produces consists of a sensor part and an embedded part that contains electronics to run algorithms and device diagnostics. Plenty of work has gone into finding the right materials and design, since it must be both food-safe and able to withstand tough conditions.
But with so much effort put into research and development – what about the fear of being plagiarised? There is close to none, as it turns out.
“It’s rather difficult to copy because it incorporates mechanics, the sensor itself, which is a proprietary four-layer antenna, special components, and the computing unit tailored by us. Taking it apart doesn’t help – you can’t just see the secret by opening it”, Matti Järveläinen says.
Jani Puroranta adds:
“Much of the value lies in the machine-learning algorithms and application knowledge, which competitors can’t easily replicate.”
We end our visit with a lab session where Product Engineer Piie Konnunaho takes the stage. When adding a tiny drop of chemical to the mixture in a flask, the analyser instantly reacts – and before we can blink the liquid fingerprint changes on the computer screen.
Nobody gets away with tampering with liquids on Collo’s watch.
Article published on 12 November, 2025
Text: Lucas Hermans
Photo:Nicklas Mattsson
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