What Sesotec does

Sesotec GmbH is a privately held German industrial technology company founded in 1976 and headquartered in Schönberg, Lower Bavaria. The company develops and manufactures inspection and material sorting equipment used by food processors, plastics manufacturers and compounders, and recycling operators. Its product portfolio spans four hardware families (inductive metal detectors, X-ray inspection systems including the RAYCON line with THiNK Technologies, magnetic separation systems, and optical sorting systems) plus software and AI-driven material analysis platforms such as OBJECT-AI, FLAKE PURIFIER+, FLAKE SCAN, and the recently launched PRE-SORT mobile sorting platform.

The company sells bespoke industrial equipment through a direct enterprise field-sales motion with consultative selling, supported by 18 global locations including showrooms, a wholly-owned Netherlands subsidiary, and a Malaysia production facility for Asian markets. Revenue is generated primarily through one-time equipment sales, supplemented by recurring aftermarket services (installation, commissioning, maintenance contracts, spare parts, remote support, training) and a Sesotec App for ongoing customer engagement.

Sesotec has been named a key player in Europe recycling sorters (35% European market share referenced in industry reports) and operates across three primary verticals: food processing (foreign-body detection and HACCP/IFS/BRC compliance), plastics manufacturing and recycling (regrind quality, food-grade rPET), and general recycling (municipal waste, glass, e-waste, lithium-ion battery fire prevention via the WeSort.AI partnership). Customer logos span Backwelt PILZ, SITRAPLAS, Mission PET, Reiling Glas Recycling, Steinbeis Polyvert, Bachmann Group, and Coppa Inc. The company has won multiple awards including Top Company (Kununu, five consecutive years), TOP 100 Innovator (Compamedia), and Product of the Year 2025 in Recycling (PRE-SORT).

Name

Sesotec

Legal name

Sesotec GmbH

Website

https://sesotec.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Sesotec GmbH is a German manufacturer founded in 1976 that builds industrial inspection and material sorting systems, including metal detectors, X-ray inspection, magnetic separators, and AI-powered optical sorters for food processors, plastics manufacturers, and recycling operators worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Inspection and Sorting Equipment

NAICS

Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (3345), Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Instruments For Meas & Testing Of Electricity & Elec Signals (3825)

akta.pro primary industry

Inspection, Checkweighing & Detection Systems (Vision, Metal, X-ray) (IMALAOAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Inspection, Checkweighing & Metal Detection Systems (IMAHAOAJ), Advanced/Optical Sorting & Quality Control Services (NIR, AI, Robotics) (BPALADAH), Sorting, Grading & Optical Inspection Systems (Size/Color Sorters) (AFAAAJAC)

Keywords

• Industrial contaminant detection
• Material sorting systems
• Food safety inspection
• Plastics recycling equipment
• X-ray inspection systems

Headquarters

HQ city

Schönberg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Industrial inspection and sorting equipment sales: Sesotec generates revenue primarily through the sale of industrial inspection (metal detectors, X-ray systems) and material sorting equipment (optical sorters, magnetic separators) to food processors, plastics manufacturers, and recycling facilities. Equipment is sold directly through enterprise sales with consultation and support services.
2. Aftermarket and service (installation, commissioning, maintenance): Revenue from installation, commissioning, on-site service, remote support, training, spare parts, repairs, maintenance contracts, and machine upgrades. The company operates service hotlines and offers intelligent service solutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Sesotec designs, engineers, and manufactures industrial inspection and material sorting systems including metal detectors, X-ray inspection systems, magnetic separators, and AI-driven optical sorters. Its solutions are used by food processors, plastics manufacturers, and recycling facilities to detect foreign body contamination, ensure food safety regulatory compliance, enable risk-free use of recycled materials, detect lithium-ion batteries in waste streams, and achieve high-purity material sorting for circular economy applications.

Product overview

Sesotec is a German provider of product inspection and sorting solutions serving the food, plastics, and recycling industries. The product portfolio consists of multiple integrated systems: Metal Detection Systems (metal detectors for conveyor belts, free-fall, liquids, and pneumatic conveying), X-ray Inspection Systems (RAYCON family for packaged and unpackaged food inspection), Magnetic Systems (for material separation), Material Management Systems (FLAKE PURIFIER+ and FLAKE SCAN for plastic flake analysis and sorting), and Sorting Systems (VARISORT+ UNITY and conveyor/chute-based sorters). AI capabilities are delivered through OBJECT-AI computer vision integrated into sorting machines, while recent launches include the RAYCON Family (X-ray), PRE-SORT mobile platform, Purifier Performer, and X.Sort AI for battery detection. The company operates in three mega-industries: food safety inspection, plastics recycling, and general recycling.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• RAYCON: X-ray inspection systems product line for food safety applications
• VARISORT+
• INTUITY
• PURIFIER+
• FLAKE SCAN
• PRE-SORT
• X.Sort
• COMPLIANCE PACKAGE

Products and services

• VARISORT+ UNITY

Quantifiable outcome

• Recycling rate for Swiss collection bags tripled through PAC2PAC project using Sesotec AI sorting technology

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature12 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, notable and minor.

• WeSort.AI GmbHcoreTechnology or Integration · 8 April 2026Sesotec partnered with WeSort.AI GmbH to distribute X.Sort, an AI-based technology that detects lithium-ion batteries early in the recycling process to prevent fires. The partnership leverages Sesotec's international sales and service network to make the technology available globally. Both companies remain legally independent while combining their engineering expertise and AI algorithms to advance fire protection, process stability, and data-driven optimization in recycling facilities.
• Stol Inspection Systems (Netherlands)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSesotec and Stol inspection systems partnership serves as the foundation for further growth in the Netherlands. Stol acts as a distribution and service partner supporting Sesotec's expansion in Benelux, with the opening of a new showroom and subsidiary in the Netherlands.
• Bachmann Group (Swiss)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Bachmann Group, together with Sesotec, Starlinger Viscotec, Krones, and PET-MAN, completed a feasibility study for the PAC2PAC project creating an optimal closed-loop recycling system for PET packaging in Switzerland. Sesotec provided AI-based sorting technology (VARISORT+ UNITY with OBJECT-AI, FLAKE PURIFIER+, FLAKE SCAN) to reliably distinguish food-grade from non-food-grade PET. The project tripled the recycling rate for Swiss collection bags.
• Steinbeis Polyvert GmbHnotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerGermany-based Sesotec provides recycling and sorting technology to Austria-based Steinbeis Polyvert GmbH to help convert post-consumer plastic scrap into marketable plastic grades including PET, HDPE, and PP granules. Partnership involved extensive sorting trials at Sesotec's Technical Center and deployment of multiple systems including Varisort, Unity, Flake Purifier+, and Flake Scan.
• Met-L-Tec LLCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSesotec and Met-L-Tec are fabricating additional system components in parallel for RenX Enterprises' biomass processing system in Florida. Met-L-Tec handles installation contracts.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Mettler-Toledo: Global leader in precision industrial instruments including product inspection (metal detection, X-ray, vision) for food and pharma. Competes with Sesotec's food-safety inspection business as part of a much larger portfolio spanning weighing and laboratory analytics.
• Anritsu: Japanese manufacturer with a significant X-ray inspection business (food and packaging lines). Overlaps with Sesotec's RAYCON X-ray food-safety portfolio, though Anritsu operates as a broader diversified electronics-and-inspection conglomerate rather than a niche specialist.

Direct peers

• Binder+Co: Austrian specialist in sensor-based sorting and processing of bulk materials, particularly for recycling and glass. Direct competitor in chute-based optical sorters for recycling and similar industrial-sorter product categories to Sesotec.
• TOMRA Systems ASA: Norwegian global leader in sensor-based sorting and recycling, with a comparable portfolio of optical sorters, AI-based material recognition, and food inspection. Direct competitor across Sesotec's recycling and food verticals and the most cited rival in third-party market reports.
• Pellenc ST: French specialist in optical sorting for solid waste, plastics, and recycling streams. Direct competitor to Sesotec's VARISORT+ UNITY and FLAKE PURIFIER+ products in MRF and plastics-recycling applications.
• Bühler Group: Swiss family-owned leader in food processing equipment with optical sorting and AI-based inspection products (SORTEX). Competes head-to-head with Sesotec in food safety inspection and is named alongside Sesotec as a key European player in the AI Food Sorting market.
• Key Technology (Duravant): US-based manufacturer of optical sorters, vibratory conveyors, and digital inspection systems for food processing. Competes directly with Sesotec's food-safety inspection (X-ray/metal detection) and sorting product lines.
• Steinert Elektromagnetbau: German specialist in magnetic separation and sensor-based sorting for the recycling industry. Direct competitor in Sesotec's metal-separation and recycling-sorter portfolio with strong European installed base overlap.
• Cimbria (AGCO): Danish manufacturer of optical sorting and grain/food processing equipment, owned by AGCO. Competes directly with Sesotec's food-processing inspection and optical-sorting portfolio and is named alongside it in AI Food Sorting market reports.

Emerging players

• Sadako Technologies: Spanish AI-driven waste-sorting company using computer vision to identify materials in MRFs. Emerges as a focused, software-centric competitor to Sesotec's AI-sorter business in recycling, with a narrower product set and earlier commercial maturity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sesotec
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/sesotec
• Facebookfacebook.com/sesotec
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sesotec-gmbh
• Instagraminstagram.com/sesotec_gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sesotec