The key facts
- Veritas released the second version of its chip: support for metal, glass, jewelry, trophies, and perfume bottles
- Partnership with ATHLOS: all 18 championship crowns will receive chips; the chip is also embedded in LeBron James's sneakers
- Raised $1.75 million in pre-seed funding led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six
A chip for verifying the authenticity of luxury goods
The startup Veritas is developing a chip for verifying the authenticity of luxury goods amid the growing problem of 'superfakes' — high-quality counterfeits that increasingly convincingly imitate the signature marks of fashion houses. The company was founded by Lucy Holland, formerly a technical product manager at Tesla with a background in design and art. The chip is embedded into an item without damaging it: brands can confirm a product's authenticity, and buyers can present a certificate of ownership through the company's app.
How the approach differs from QR codes and NFC links
According to Holland, other solutions are easier to circumvent: a digital record can be reproduced using a copied QR code or a static NFC link. 'Our approach combines secure authenticated chip responses with integration into the product itself. Our chip generates a secure response on every tap and includes a tamper-detection wire. We make the link between the object and its digital identity part of the proof,' she said.
The second version of the chip
Holland told TechCrunch by email that the company has introduced a second version of the chip, which works on metal surfaces and can be scanned through glass. 'The next-generation chip is production-ready and supports a broader range of applications, including jewelry, trophies, hard-surface items, and glass objects such as perfume bottles,' she noted. According to her, this complements integrations into apparel and gives brands more ways to embed authentication into products.
Partnership with ATHLOS and the LeBron James case
This week the startup announced a partnership with ATHLOS — a women's track and field competition founded by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, who is also an investor in Veritas. All 18 championship crowns of the competition will receive Veritas chips for authenticity verification. The company also embedded a chip in a pair of LeBron James's first Nike sneakers, reimagined by artist Adam Port: when tapped with a smartphone, the sneaker displays its history.
Funding and products
Veritas raised $1.75 million in pre-seed funding led by Ohanian's venture firm Seven Seven Six, with participation from DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang, Reys skincare brand co-founder Gloria Zhu, and former TechCrunch editor Josh Constine. Since the round in February, the company has released an iOS app for consumers and a brand portal for managing product records and creating customer experiences — clubs, event check-ins, and segmented early access to drops. Veritas also competed in the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield, which ran from Tuesday to Thursday; the winner was announced on Thursday afternoon.
