Rapid, affordable milk-testing technology that gives feedback in seconds instead of days is being recognized across the country. Labby’s MilKey was recently named the Best Tech Startup at TechRochester’s 2024 GREAT Awards. Nationally, Labby was also named one of four finalists in the Farm Bureau Ag Innovation Challenge. This prestigious competition showcases startup companies addressing challenges faced by America’s farmers. Labby is the only company selected from New York State and one out of hundreds of technologies that were under consideration for this year’s annual awards event.

“This recognition will help us bring more brand awareness for our company,” explained Julia Somerdin, CEO & Co-Founder of Labby. “Every farmer in every state pays attention to this competition.”

The honor follows a string of milestones for the startup. Earlier this year, they were awarded a Phase II SBIR grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). In 2023, they earned a spot in Luminate’s sixth cohort. And, in 2022, Labby received a $250,000 prize at Grow-NY, a competition that attracts innovative, high-growth food and agriculture startups from across the globe. Somerdin has been featured in national publications including Cosmopolitan’s C-Suite and has established herself as a thought leader in dairy innovation.

As a result of this progress, Labby has grown its team substantially. In addition to Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, Anshuman Das, Somerdin has hired an optical engineer, mechanical engineer, senior PCB design engineer, senior data scientist, full-stack engineer, and a dairy milk testing specialist. Currently, Labby is seeking a mechanical engineer and an opto-mechanical engineer.

While in graduate school at MIT, Somerdin was searching for the right product to build. “I was looking for something where I could leverage my corporate experience, but my background was always technology commercialization,” said Somerdin. In the extensive research she conducted, she found that many companies asked about water quality testing, blood testing, or chemical testing. But then a dairy company asked Somerdin, “Can you do milk testing?”

At the time, Somerdin didn’t know anything about dairy. However, her grandfather was a farmer, which contributed to her interest.

“In the dairy industry, they are still testing like they did 50 years ago,” explained Somerdin. “It takes a huge amount of time and it’s very labor intensive. Farmers need to preserve the quality of the milk after a technician spends eight to ten hours on the farm. Then they need to crate it, refrigerate it, and send it to a lab for testing.”

Labby solves this challenge with instant results, testing the milk from every cow automatically during each milking. When the process starts, a portion of milk flows directly into the Labby MilKey device. From there, the system measures milk protein, milk fat, and somatic cell count (SCC), which identifies whether a cow is infected with mastitis, a condition that can lead to decreased milk production. Information is then sent to a cell phone or a desktop for review.

This solution is based on optical technology, as MilKey uses advanced mobile spectroscopy and AI to assess interactions between milk and the light. The technology offers the same testing precision as traditional lab testing while providing an immediate, affordable option to farmers, where the savings can offset the hardware investment in less than six months.

“We had our first pilot in Pennsylvania a few years ago,” said Somerdin. “We collected the feedback, improved several areas, and worked to produce the second generation of our technology.”

Now Labby is ready to install the product on multiple farms, a process that takes between a few hours to a few days. Ten farms in New York currently want to move into the testing stage, with farms in Wisconsin, South Dakota, California, and New Hampshire also expressing interest.

When asked what her vision is for Labby five years down the road, Somerdin shared, “We want to become the number one choice when a farmer is looking for a milk-testing solution.”

“I have this ambition,” Somerdin added. “I want to work on something where we can drive a huge transformation in industry, for humanity.”

Learn more about Labby in this short video.

To get in touch with Somerdin, reach out to hello@labbyinc.com.