Waterloo builder of in-line food inspection systems for meat processors, using its own patented spectrometers and hyperspectral imaging with AI to detect foreign material and grade product quality.
Canadian innovation builds a brighter tomorrow.
P&P Optica builds in-line inspection systems for meat processors, combining hyperspectral imaging with machine learning to detect foreign material and grade product quality. The distinguishing technical claim is that the company designs its own optics: its own technology page states that "PPO's patented spectrometers deliver unmatched data quality and speed", with light passing "through a high-efficiency holographic grating inside our patented spectrometers" and being recorded "in 500 different continuous wavelengths". The company states it is proudly based in Waterloo, Ontario, and dates its origins to 1995 as a research and consulting company, shifting into food safety technology in 2004.
States that its patented spectrometers deliver its data quality and speed, with light passing through a high-efficiency holographic grating inside them. ppo.ca
Its systems record light in 500 different continuous wavelengths to identify materials in the product stream. ppo.ca
Leads a CAAIN project on meat quality and safety; CAAIN's contribution is $2,973,651 of a $9,214,562 total project value. caain.ca
Announced its first Smart Imaging System built in the United States, with partner Midwest Metalcraft, in January 2026. ppo.ca
Series B led by Ag Capital Canada with Synovus Family Office, Fulcrum Global Capital and EDC, announced July 2021; amount not disclosed. ppo.ca
BetaKit reported in November 2022 that PPO's system was used in over 10 facilities in Canada and the US, including Hormel Foods, Brakebush Brothers and Fieldale Farms. betakit.com
Received an AgriInnovate contribution of $2,430,023 from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to scale sales in North America. search.open.canada.ca
Federal corporation P & P Optica Inc. (312662-5), incorporated 1995, registered office Waterloo, Ontario. ised-isde.canada.ca
Products P&P Optica publishes on its own site. Each card links to the page it was taken from.
Inspection system
In-line hyperspectral inspection system for meat processors; PPO's machine learning software analyzes the hyperspectral data to detect foreign material and measure quality in real time, pixel by pixel.
Learn moreAnalytics software
Software dashboard for tracking quality metrics and foreign material incidents from PPO's inspection systems.
Learn moreAnnounced rounds only, newest first. Undisclosed amounts are shown as undisclosed.
Jul 8, 2021
Investors: Ag Capital Canada, Synovus Family Office, Fulcrum Global Capital, Export Development Canada
Feb 5, 2019
Investors: Export Development Canada
Government support actually received. Unpublished amounts are left out.
AgriInnovate Program, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada — contribution (PPO Scaling Sales in North America)
Food Waste Reduction Challenge, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada — grant (hyperspectral imaging to reduce food waste)
Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario — contribution (imaging spectrometer systems development and commercialization)
CanExport, National Research Council Canada — contribution (US market expansion for Smart Imaging Systems and food data analytics)
P&P Optica announced the first of its Smart Imaging Systems to be built in the United States, in partnership with Midwest Metalcraft.
BetaKit reported that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is providing P&P Optica up to $2.4 million through its AgriInnovate Program, and that the company's system is used in over 10 facilities in Canada and the United States.
Sourced from the company's own pages or announcements.
Terms the company uses about its own work.
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