Battery-free tracking of reusable crates and pallets
Battery-free tags powered by radio waves, to prove the reuse of transport packaging that the EU requires from 2030.
Sources checked on 24 October 2026
Summary Free
Walmart is rolling out Wiliot battery-free sensors in the US, powered by ambient radio waves, on its pallets and crates (October 2025 announcement). Avery Dennison invested $75M in Wiliot in 2026, and the 3GPP Release 19 mobile standard now includes ambient IoT. In Europe, the packaging regulation requires at least 40% of transport packaging to be reusable from 1 January 2030. The idea: a European tracking service for reusable crates, totes and pallets for SMEs, cooperatives and packaging pools, proving reuse rates and cutting losses.
The technology
A stamp-sized tag harvests energy from radio waves (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi) and regularly sends its ID, sometimes temperature. Readers in warehouses and trucks pick up the signals; software tracks each package.
New sector and target customers
Crate and pallet pools, farm cooperatives, food manufacturers, retailers, breweries and drinks producers.
Main source
Wiliot collaborates with Walmart to transform retail supply chain with ambient IoT and AI
Wiliot · 15 October 2025
Verified competitors
Wiliot, Sensolus, Euro Pool System
Light version with AI agents
A smaller, related idea on AI Agent Business Lab: Keg tracking for small breweries
Same need to track reusable containers: beer kegs are a concrete first market.
Opportunity window Free
Is now the right time to start? A score out of 100, based on 5 criteria.
- Technology maturity (TRL)
- Regulatory tailwind
- Open funding calls
- Competitor and investor activity
- Market timing
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How it is calculated
Each criterion is rated from 1 to 5, then weighted. Score = sum of weight × (rating − 1) / 4, rounded.
- Technology maturity (TRL) (weight 25): The closer the technology is to a product (high TRL), the higher the rating.
- Regulatory tailwind (weight 20): A law or standard that creates demand raises the rating; a long approval process lowers it.
- Open funding calls (weight 15): Number of open or upcoming calls with a deadline in the next 12 months (the idea's "Funding calls" list).
- Competitor and investor activity (weight 20): Competitors raising money show that investors believe in the field: the rating is high. Little activity: the rating is low.
- Market timing (weight 20): A recent signal (first customer, first plant, incident) showing that the market is moving now.
The 5 levels: Wide-open window (From 80) · Open window (From 65) · Medium window (From 50) · Narrow window (From 35) · Closed window (From 0)
Editorial assessment by DeepTechBusinessLab, not investment advice. Criteria marked “To be verified” rely on thin evidence.
Open funding calls and grants
3 funding call(s) match this idea. Next deadline: 4 November 2026 (in 5 days).
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Starter kit
Everything you need to get moving: a one-page pitch, real contacts and the pilot customers to target.
What the kit contains
- One-page pitch in French and English (problem, solution, technology, market, business model, funding ask)
- 3 real contacts: labs, patent holders and organisations, with their official link
- 3 pilot customer profiles to approach
One-page pitch Project
Contacts and pilot customers Investor file
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Kit checked on 24 October 2026
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Known technology limits Analysis
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And 9 more parts: Regulation, All sources, Step-by-step funding plan, EU grants and programmes, First steps, Useful contacts (public organisations), Competitors' investors, Risks and warning signs, Typical team
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- Sourced market (several studies, segments, Europe)
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Project
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The Project, plus competitors' investors, risks and 6 months of updates
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Update history
Dated events that change how this idea reads, with their source.
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Idea file created
Independent information, not investment advice. TRL levels and budgets are estimates to be validated.
