BRAINR

BRAINR is a Portuguese technology company founded in 2021 that provides a cloud-native Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) platform specifically for the food and beverage industry. The company is headquartered in Leiria, Portugal. It was co-founded by CEO Paulo Gaspar, COO Rui Batista, and CTO Ricardo Granada. The founding team possesses extensive experience in the food industry and in developing software for complex industrial settings. Gaspar, for instance, previously led IT modernization at Grupo Lusiaves, a major European food production group, an experience that highlighted the need for a food-specific MES solution and led to the creation of BRAINR. The company was spun out of Grupo Lusiaves in 2023. In September 2025, BRAINR secured €11 million in a seed funding round led by C2 Capital Partners to fuel its international expansion and accelerate AI research and development. This event was noted as a record-breaking seed round for a company focused on digitizing food manufacturing in Portugal. BRAINR's core business is to help food factories digitize their operations, addressing the fact that the food and beverage sector is one of the least digitized industries. The company targets food producers across various segments, including poultry, meat, dairy, bakery, and ready meals. The platform is designed to replace outdated methods like paper and spreadsheets, which are prone to inefficiency and waste. The AI-driven, cloud-native platform offers a comprehensive suite of modules for managing factory operations. These include advanced production planning, warehouse management, quality control, full traceability, and logistics. It integrates with existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems from providers like SAP, Oracle, and Sage, as well as with factory floor equipment and IoT devices. This allows for real-time visibility and data-driven decision-making, enabling plant managers to reduce waste, improve efficiency, and ensure food safety standards and compliance with regulations like HACCP, BRC, and IFS. A key differentiator for BRAINR is its exclusive focus on the food industry. Unlike generic MES systems, BRAINR is built to handle the specific challenges of food manufacturing, such as managing short shelf lives and adapting to dynamic production schedules. The platform is already utilized to process over 25% of all meat production in Portugal, and the company is expanding into other sectors and geographies. The software is designed to be intuitive for factory workers, with features like glove-compatible touch screens and offline modes to ensure usability in industrial environments. Keywords: Manufacturing Execution System, MES, MOM, food and beverage manufacturing, food technology, factory management software, cloud-native platform, AI-driven operations, supply chain digitization, food traceability, quality control software, warehouse management system, production planning, food safety compliance, IoT integration, ERP integration, Leiria Portugal, Paulo Gaspar, Rui Batista, Ricardo Granada, C2 Capital Partners