Horizon 2035
We exist to build software that enables food manufacturers to operate profitably in energy-constrained emerging markets. By 2035, energy is the binding constraint on production—not raw materials or labour. Coordination at scale determines who can compete. That's why now is the moment to build it.
We envision a world where food manufacturers in emerging nations operate reliably and profitably, not crushed by energy volatility. Starting with bakeries, mills, and cold storage in booming urban markets where the problem is sharpest—we're building the platform that makes energy coordination economically viable at unprecedented scale.
Food manufacturers in emerging nations face brutal energy constraints: unreliable grids, expensive diesel, no coordination. Underscore builds the software that makes profitability possible—platforms that turn fragmented bakeries, mills, and cold storage into coordinated, intelligent networks.
By 2035, food manufacturers in emerging nations will double production to feed 2.5B people in booming cities—whilst energy infrastructure remains unreliable. Diesel costs will keep crushing margins. Without coordination, manufacturers will fail to scale—production will stagnate, food security will suffer, jobs will be lost.
The real question isn't whether manufacturers will survive, but how: by coordinating energy intelligently, or by failing at scale.
Each bakery, mill, and cold storage deployment we launch today generates learning that compounds across food manufacturing networks. Early implementations teach us how different facility types work. Bakery data improves mill scheduling. Cold chain patterns scale across manufacturers. That's how you build a platform that scales from one region to fifty without reinventing. By 2035, the system isn't rushed. It's learned. It's proven. It's built for food manufacturers.
Food manufacturers in emerging nations are growing faster than energy can reliably support them. Production demand will double in the next 25 years to feed 2.5B people. Individual bakeries, mills, cold storage—designed for unreliable grids and expensive diesel—can't scale profitably or coordinate effectively.
We're building networks, not silos. Each food manufacturer deployment strengthens the platform through operational data. Bakery firing patterns improve mill scheduling. Cold chain demand improves facility networks. Coordination strategies proven in one region guide every deployment that follows.
That's how you scale from one bakery to networks of manufacturers across regions without proportional cost increases. The platform compounds. The learning flows. Each manufacturer becomes smarter.
You operate a bakery that needs 500 loaves by 6am tomorrow for retailers across the city. But the energy constraint system is brutal:
When do you run? Which power source? Which equipment? How do you shift demand? Every decision cascades. The grid schedule changes hourly. Your margins depend on coordination.
It's not "when do we bake?" It's constrained optimisation across four interacting variables:
Energy Costs
Grid (cheap, unreliable, 10-15h cuts daily) vs. Diesel (expensive 3-5x, controllable) vs. Renewables (rare, limited)
Production Forecasting
Predict bakery preheat, mill motor load, cold chain demand hours ahead based on historical patterns
Multi-Manufacturer Coordination
Network bakeries, mills, cold storage to shift demand, share grid windows, negotiate collective contracts
Margin Protection
Minimise diesel hours, match production to cheap grid windows, hit delivery deadlines profitably
Industrial growth across booming markets is accelerating at rates never seen before. Energy-intensive industries need coordination systems built NOW. In rapidly growing hubs, load-shedding, brownouts, and unreliable grids turn production into a survival game, not a business. Traditional operations fail. Technology-enabled systems survive.
Facilities Using Diesel Backup
Sub-Saharan Africa industrial survey
Average Daily Load-Shedding
Cost of Diesel vs Grid
Annual Industrial Diesel Spending
Industrial facilities across booming markets face energy unpredictability that destroys margins. Grid failures are frequent. Diesel costs spiral during peak demand. No facility has visibility into supply or demand across the region.
By building energy coordination networks that predict demand, optimise allocation across multiple sources, and enable facility clusters to share resources, we transform survival operations into sustainable, profitable systems. Industries stop losing money to energy chaos. They start competing on performance.
Underscore's platform helps industries localise control over energy and sustain operations through volatility.
Technology transforming industrial energy resilience across booming markets
Facilities Coordinated
Diesel Costs Saved
Regions Networked
Jobs Sustained
We're building the energy coordination platform for food manufacturers across emerging nations. We need engineers, operators, and food industry experts who understand constraint optimization.
Build networks that sustain food manufacturer margins and feed billions.