Startup Veritas has introduced a second version of its product-authentication chip that works on metal surfaces and can be scanned through glass. The hardware expands its system beyond garments to jewelry, trophies, hard-surface goods and fragrance bottles.
A phone tap checks a cryptographic response from the embedded chip and can display a certificate of ownership in the Veritas app. Founder Luci Holland says the chip creates a new response for each tap and includes a tamper-detection wire, tying a digital identity to the physical object more closely than a copied QR code or static NFC link.
The company is using the new hardware in a partnership with ATHLOS, a women’s track-and-field competition. All 18 championship crowns will contain Veritas chips. It has also embedded one in a redesigned pair of LeBron James’ first Nike shoes, where a tap opens the item’s history.
Veritas has raised $1.75 million in pre-seed funding and released an iOS app plus a portal where brands manage product records and owner experiences. The system may make simple copying harder, but the source does not provide independent security testing or evidence at commercial scale. Authentication also depends on secure manufacturing and enrollment, because a strong chip cannot by itself prove that the original product record was correct.