Despify

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Inspiration

Despify was born out of a frustration we all know: opening a fridge full of food and feeling like there's nothing to cook, which inevitably leads to food ending up in the trash. As technology and cooking enthusiasts, we set out to solve this problem. What started as a personal project to organize our own pantry quickly turned into a bigger mission: to use artificial intelligence to combat food waste on a global scale, one home at a time.

What it does

Despify is an intelligent kitchen assistant that transforms the way you manage your food. Our app allows you to:Scan purchase receipts: With just a photo, our OCR technology extracts the products and automatically adds them to your digital inventory.Manage your pantry: Keep full control of what you have, with updated expiration dates and quantities.Receive smart alerts: We notify you before foods expire so you can use them in time.Obtain AI-generated recipes: Our AI engine, based on Gemini, creates delicious and personalized recipes using only the ingredients you have available.Save money and care for the planet: By reducing waste, you not only save on your shopping but also decrease your carbon footprint.

How we built it

We built Despify on a modern, robust, and scalable tech stack:Frontend: Developed in React Native, which allows us to provide a native and smooth experience on both iOS and Android from a single codebase.Backend & Database: We use Firebase (Firestore and Authentication) for secure and scalable real-time data management, allowing for instant synchronization between devices.Artificial Intelligence: The heart of Despify is Google AI (Gemini). We use it for optical character recognition (OCR) of receipts and for the intelligent generation of personalized prescriptions.Cloud Infrastructure: Our backend is hosted on Render, a cloud platform that ensures high availability and performance.Monitoring and Analytics: We use Sentry for real-time error reporting and Mixpanel to analyze user behavior, which allows us to iterate and continuously improve the application.

Challenges we ran into

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We have developed an OCR system with a precision rate of over 90% in the major supermarkets in Spain. We managed to make our AI recipe generator not only use the available ingredients but also consider the user's preferences and create balanced and appealing dishes. We built a fully functional and scalable beta application from scratch, which is already being tested by more than 50 beta testers. Create a brand and a community around a clear mission: sustainability. The positive feedback we have received confirms that we are solving a real problem.

What we learned

Throughout this journey, we have learned invaluable lessons. The most important is the power of user feedback: our beta testers have been crucial in shaping the product. We learned that the most advanced technology is useless if it doesn't solve a real problem in a simple and intuitive way. Technically, we have delved into the complexities of applying AI models to real-world data and the importance of building a robust architecture that can scale with our vision.

What's next for Despify

Our roadmap is ambitious and user-centered. After the public launch (Q4 2025), our next steps include: Integration with Supermarkets (Q1 2026): To place automatic orders and compare prices. Social Features (Q2 2026): Allowing users to share recipes and create sustainability challenges. Visual Food Recognition: Using the camera to identify foods without needing to scan receipts. International Expansion (Q3 2026): Adapting Despify to new markets and languages. We are building not just an app, but a complete ecosystem for a smarter kitchen and a more sustainable world.