FUNBRICKS SL

Their core work

FUNBRICKS is a Barcelona-based SME that develops colour-changing indicator labels for real-time monitoring of food quality and safety in packaged meat products. Their core technology, branded as "FreshInk," provides visual freshness indicators for packed chicken meat, allowing consumers and retailers to assess product safety without opening the package. They also have experience in sustainable food packaging through participation in moulded pulp packaging research.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

FUNBRICKS followed a classic SME Instrument trajectory: they validated their FreshInk concept in 2015 with a Phase 1 feasibility study (EUR 50,000), then scaled it up in 2016 with a Phase 2 demonstration project (EUR 1,056,582). Their participation in PULPACKTION in 2016 broadened their scope from smart labelling into the wider sustainable packaging domain. All activity is concentrated in 2015-2016, with no evidence of further H2020 engagement after that period.

FUNBRICKS moved from smart food labelling toward broader sustainable packaging, but their H2020 activity ended around 2016-2017, so their current direction is unclear without more recent data.

How they like to work

FUNBRICKS predominantly leads projects, coordinating 2 out of 3 H2020 engagements, which reflects the SME Instrument model where the company drives its own innovation agenda. Their one participant role in the larger BBI-IA-DEMO project PULPACKTION shows they can also integrate into bigger consortia. With 14 unique partners across 7 countries, they built a reasonably diverse network for a company with only three projects.

FUNBRICKS has collaborated with 14 unique partners across 7 countries, a relatively broad network for a small company. Their connections span both SME-driven innovation and larger industry-led demonstration projects in the bio-based industries sector.

What sets them apart

FUNBRICKS occupies a niche at the intersection of smart packaging and food safety — specifically, visual freshness indicators that translate complex biochemical degradation into simple colour signals for consumers. Their successful progression from SME Instrument Phase 1 to Phase 2 demonstrates validated commercial potential. For consortium builders in food packaging or food waste reduction, they bring a concrete, product-ready technology rather than generic research capabilities.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FreshInk2
  Their flagship project with over EUR 1M in funding, advancing colour-code freshness labels from concept to demonstration stage via the SME Instrument Phase 2.
• PULPACKTION
  A larger BBI demonstration project on renewable moulded pulp packaging, showing FUNBRICKS can contribute to industry-scale sustainable packaging consortia.