Former Tesla product manager wants to make luxury goods impossible to fake, starting with a chip

The counterfeit goods market presents a dual challenge. Luxury brands are estimated to lose more than $30 billion annually to fake products. In comparison, buyers in the rapidly expanding $210 billion second-hand market often lack reliable tools to verify an item's authenticity. Veritas is seeking to address both issues through a combination of proprietary hardware and software.

The startup says it has created what it describes as a "hack-proof" chip designed to resist tampering, including attempts by tools. One of them is Flipper Zero, a widely available device that can interfere with wireless systems. Each chip is paired with a digital certificate that validates the authenticity of the associated product.

Veritas founder Luci Holland brings experience from both technology and the arts. She has worked across creative disciplines, including mixed-media painting and metal sculpture, while also serving as a technical product manager at Tesla. In addition, she has held roles in business development, community growth, and product management at various technology companies and venture firms.

Holland noted that luxury brands traditionally rely on physical markers or symbolic elements to verify authenticity. However, as demand for high-end goods has grown, counterfeiters have become adept at reproducing these identifiers, including convincing documentation. These high-quality replicas are often referred to as "superfakes."

She said that in conversations with maisons — established luxury fashion houses — some reported suspending in-store authentication services because the replicas had become too difficult to distinguish from genuine products. Drawing on her background in both design and technology, Holland said she saw an opportunity to build a more resilient system.

"For me, as someone who has a background in being a designer and then also has experience in tech, I saw this problem and thought about the different ways we could solve it. I think what's truly innovative is we've used and combined elements from both hardware and software to create this solution that helps protect brands in this way to convey the information," she said.

"When I think of counterfeiting, and I think of the most iconic and legacy brands," she added, "a lot of these brands have been around for over 100, 150 years. These brands deserve the most advanced protection to protect these designs."

Veritas collaborated with designers to ensure the chip would not disrupt manufacturing. Roughly the size of a small gemstone, the chip can be embedded in a product even after completion, without affecting its structure or aesthetics. It incorporates Near Field Communication (NFC), the same short-range wireless technology used in contactless payments, allowing a smartphone tap to confirm authenticity.

For added security, Holland said the company engineered a custom coil-and-bridge structure within the chip. If tampering is detected, the chip enters a dormant state and conceals the product's identifying codes. On the software side, each product's information is linked to Veritas' backend system, which monitors scanning patterns to detect potential fraud. The company also creates a blockchain-based digital twin of each item, which can be used in digital art showcases or virtual environments.

Although Veritas has not disclosed its brand partners, it said partners can use its software suite to track all chipped items, assign team members to manage inventory, and include product details alongside brand storytelling elements. Some brands, the company noted, use the system to engage customers through exclusive invitations or early access to new releases.

Despite the size of the counterfeiting market, Holland believes broader awareness is still needed around the vulnerabilities of existing authentication technologies.

"It is shocking to see that some of the shelf solutions, like NFC chips that brands are using, are actually so vulnerable and could easily be bypassed. This is the one thing most people don't know, and we want to educate the ecosystem to adopt safer solutions," she said.

Veritas has raised $1.75 million in pre-seed funding, led by Seven Seven Six, with participation from DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang and Reys co-founder Gloria Zhu. The company plans to use the capital to expand its current two-person team.

Alexis Ohanian of Seven Seven Six said he was drawn to Holland's blend of design sensibility and technical expertise. He added that luxury brands are well aware of the threat of counterfeiting and are actively seeking more durable solutions.

"It's absolutely an arms race [against fake goods makers], but we're used to fighting those and consistently winning in tech — and luxury brands need all the help they can get," Ohanian said.