SOFTLINE SRL

Their core work

SOFTLINE SRL is a Milan-based technology SME that builds digital products targeting environmental sustainability challenges, particularly in the area of waste reduction. Their most concrete output is PREFEapp, a mobile application designed to help users cut food waste at the point of consumption — a product they developed and brought to market under their own coordination. They also contributed as a technology partner in Waste4Think, a large EU Innovation Action that piloted advanced integrated waste management systems across municipalities. Their profile suggests they sit at the intersection of software product development and the circular economy.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

SOFTLINE's H2020 trajectory spans only two projects and roughly three years, making trend analysis necessarily cautious. Their first engagement (2016) was as a participant in a large, multi-partner Innovation Action on municipal waste systems — a consortium-follower role. By 2018 they had pivoted to coordinating their own SME Instrument Phase 1 grant, developing a proprietary consumer-facing food waste app. This shift from consortium partner to product owner is the most meaningful signal in the data: they appear to have used the larger project to build domain knowledge, then applied it to launch their own solution.

SOFTLINE appears to be building toward product ownership in the sustainability tech space — the SME Instrument grant is typically a stepping stone to commercialisation, so future collaborations are likely to involve them as a technology provider with an existing product rather than as a development partner.

How they like to work

SOFTLINE has taken both roles in H2020: participant in a 23-partner consortium and sole coordinator of a small Phase 1 grant. The SME-1 scheme is designed for single organisations with a clear business case, which means their coordination experience is more about product development than consortium management. In larger projects they likely fill a specialist digital or software role rather than a scientific or policy one.

Their 23 unique consortium partners across 6 countries come almost entirely from their participation in Waste4Think, a project that included municipalities, research institutes, and technology companies. Their own network-building capacity as an independent coordinator appears limited to the small PREFE grant.

What sets them apart

SOFTLINE occupies a specific niche — an Italian SME that has both participated in serious EU waste management infrastructure projects and built a consumer mobile product targeting food waste. That dual experience (systems-level thinking from Waste4Think, product execution from PREFE) is relatively uncommon among SMEs of their size. For a consortium looking for a digital product partner with sustainability domain knowledge and EU project experience, they represent a practical, commercially-oriented option rather than a purely research-focused one.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Waste4Think
  Their largest project by far (EUR 285,688 EC contribution), a multi-country Innovation Action on advanced waste management systems — provides the technical credibility behind their sustainability positioning.
• PREFE
  The only project they coordinated, and a Phase 1 SME Instrument grant — signals that SOFTLINE has validated a commercial product concept (PREFEapp) in the EU funding system, which is a meaningful market signal.