How TraceX Is Building The Data Layer For Verifiable Supply Chains

In today’s world, an ‘organic’ label on a product might sound reassuring, but it barely scratches the surface. Tracing the entire journey of a food product, from raw material sourcing to manufacturing and quality control, to packaging, transport, and storage, is essential before it is declared safe for consumption. 

Even though many companies are working towards this, the gaps are still hard to ignore. As per the latest reports, consumption of unsafe food claims 420K lives and leaves at least 600 Mn people sick across the world every year. The gaps continue to surface across areas such as sourcing, quality checks, and compliance reviews, where stakeholders often rely on fragmented records and manual documentation. 

Without a shared, verifiable data layer, proving compliance or sustainability claims becomes difficult as supply chains grow more complex.

India ranked 102nd out of 123 countries on the Global Hunger Index. Foodborne pathogens strike hard, with a major portion of the market still far from organised. This is where Bengaluru-based TraceX Technologies steps in, looking to close these gaps in India’s food traceability market, which is expected to reach $1.7 Bn by the end of the decade.

Launched in 2019 by Srivatsa Sreenivasarao, the startup is offering end-to-end visibility, meeting global compliance and managing carbon footprints across every touchpoint of the supply chain to the agro-processing industries and packaged food companies.

“We put AI to use in building a platform to capture, connect and verify supply chain data at scale,” Sreenivasarao told Inc42.

Its offerings span use cases such as EU Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) compliance, food traceability, digital product passports, farm management, and sustainability reporting, serving agribusinesses, carbon project developers, and compliance teams.

The company runs a team of about 20 people and follows an enterprise-led model, with a minimum annual ticket size of around ₹18–20 Lakh. TraceX recorded a revenue of around ₹3 Cr in FY25 and is aiming for an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of ₹4.5 Cr in FY26.

Tracing The Origin And Growth Of An Idea 

As an electrical engineer, Sreenivasarao spent over a decade building software products across India and the UK before moving into startups. He led product and engineering at a tech startup owned by an acquaintance but exited when the founders decided to pivot to foodtech. Around the same time, an executive management programme at IIM Bangalore deepened his interest in food systems and supply chains. 

Before launching TraceX, he also cofounded Jivabhumi, an agritech venture focussed on chemical-free farm produce. It was here that the structural gaps in supply chains became harder to ignore. On the ground, farm data was manually recorded, inconsistently maintained or missing altogether.

Even when the produce carried a chemical-free promise, there was no reliable way to verify how it moved from farm to buyer. “We were creating our own ‘seal of trust’, but that alone was not sufficient,” Sreenivasarao said in a conversation with Inc42.

The absence of structured, shareable data made verification difficult beyond internal checks. While scaling Jivabhumi, Sreenivasarao built internal systems to capture farm-level data. Over time, he realised the infrastructure had applications far beyond sourcing. It enabled QR-based consumer traceability, verification for institutional buyers and sustainability metrics for exports into regulated markets.

That insight was the bedrock for building TraceX Technologies. 

Building The Data Pool For Blockchain 

Where does this product come from? This simple question that led to the making of TraceX has evolved into a much greater push to the founders to build the platform as a digital infrastructure layer for supply chains, enabling multiple actors – from farmers and aggregators to processors and exporters – to capture and share verified data. 

At the core of this system lies a chain-of-custody framework that links every stage of a product’s journey – from cultivation to distribution. Each transaction or input is recorded on a blockchain, creating a traceable trail of how a product moves through the supply chain.

Capturing this data, however, has never been easy. Much of it originates at the farm level, often in regions where digitisation remains uneven. To resolve this challenge, TraceX has turned to multilingual, offline-first applications that allow field agents to collect data on the ground.

These inputs are then combined with enterprise systems, satellite imagery and external datasets to create a more complete picture. The information is recorded on a shared blockchain ledger, ensuring that records remain tamper-proof and accessible to all relevant stakeholders. 

“We are essentially creating a digital infrastructure where multiple supply chain actors can interact and share data democratically,” Sreenivasarao said.

Solution For Compliance, Traceability, Sustainability 

TraceX offers a set of enterprise solutions designed around three core needs: regulatory compliance, sustainable sourcing and digital measurement, reporting and verification (DMRV).

As frameworks such as the EU Deforestation-free Regulation (EUDR) and digital product passport requirements gain traction, companies need to maintain detailed records of sourcing and production. TraceX helps enterprises map supply chains, assess supplier risks and generate audit-ready documentation. 

By digitising farm-level, farmer-level and crop-level data, the platform allows companies to verify responsible procurement practices and meet global sustainability certification requirements. 

For Digital MRV, supply chain data is fed into environmental reporting, helping companies track nature-based interventions, calculate Scope 3 emissions and generate carbon reports backed by verifiable field data. 

“Customers started using our platform not just for traceability, but to substantiate their sustainability actions, whether it’s emission reduction or responsible sourcing,” Sreenivasarao told Inc42.

To help the businesses navigate complex regulations, TraceX has also developed an Agentic AI-powered compliance platform called Clara. It enables supplier due diligence, geographic risk assessment and automated documentation aligned with global regulatory frameworks. 

While the platform was initially designed for agriculture, the same visibility problem exists across industries. TraceX now works with companies in sectors such as paper and automotive. Clients like JK Paper and Yokohama use the platform to track raw material sourcing and environmental risks. 

Raging Turf War Along The Way Ahead 

Supply chain transparency is no longer an option, but a crucial business necessity. As businesses come under stricter scrutiny from regulators, investors, and consumers, seeking to know not just what they sell, but how they source, produce, and deliver, traceability emerges as a global priority. 

An increasing number of technology players have started swarming the space over the last few years. Companies such as Cropin have built strong capabilities around farm intelligence and predictive agriculture, while TRST01 has stepped up its focus on blockchain-led traceability and transparency. 

TraceX positions itself a little differently by bringing traceability, regulatory compliance and sustainability reporting on a single enterprise platform. The idea is to move beyond visibility alone and enable companies to use supply chain data for decision-making and regulatory alignment. 

According to the founder, AI and ML will help organisations make more precise demand estimates, streamline logistics, and improve supply chain efficiency. Combining real-time data with advanced analytics will also help them adopt preemptive measures.

The platform works with more than 2.3 Lakh farmers and over 30 enterprise clients across agriculture, food and commodity supply chains. Its customers include companies such as Nestlé, Olam Agri and Organic India, while around 60–70% of its clients are based in India as domestic businesses prepare for tightening global compliance requirements.

Looking ahead, markets such as Europe are emerging as a key focus area as regulations around sourcing transparency, sustainability and carbon reporting tighten. For companies exporting into these regions, traceability is fast becoming a prerequisite, creating the kind of demand TraceX is betting on as supply chains move towards verifiable, data-backed operations. 

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