🔒Manchester startup Smart Seal aims to digitally authenticate luxury, other goods

Early-stage Manchester startup Smart Seal Inc. makes small electronic tags that give digital IDs to physical objects.

The company’s three co-founders are billing the technology as a way to prevent counterfeiting, but they are open to other problems it could solve.

The tiny computerized tag gives off short-range radio waves that can be detected by smartphones. Someone selling limited-edition sneakers, for example, could implant a Smart Seal tag beneath the shoes’ logos, so a buyer — with a simple scan of their phone — can confirm they are authentic. Smart Seal makes and customizes the tags for customers, including what appears on a web browser following a scan.

Companies already employ a number of methods to avoid counterfeiting like QR codes and holographic stickers, said Mark Shekleton, CEO and co-founder of Smart Seal. But they can still be copied by a dedicated counterfeiter, whereas Smart Seal uses encrypted web technology.

“We have this encrypted tag solution that works very well,” Shekleton said. “Our system provides proof of ownership, proof of authenticity, proof of tamper status, geolocation services.”

The other company co-founders are Chief Operations Officer Chiziterem Uwaga and Chief Technology Officer Josh Ivaldi — all three worked together at aerospace manufacturer Collins Aerospace.

The year-old startup got its start when Uwaga had issues with counterfeiters while working on a side business that made specialty leather bags manufactured in Nigeria. Uwaga found that counterfeiters were making poorer quality lookalikes for cheaper and he wondered if there was a bulletproof way to identify a bag as authentic.

He approached Shekleton, who is a software engineer.

Shekleton designed the Smart Seal tag, and shortly after left Collins to work full time on turning the technology into a business. Uwaga joined Shekleton in pursuing the endeavor full time a couple months ago, Shekleton said.

So far Smart Seal has raised about $180,000, Shekleton said, including $100,000 from Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public venture capital firm. The company is not generating revenue yet, but its founders are meeting with a lot of different companies in industries from cannabis to luxury goods.

But the technology’s potentially versatile uses presents a bit of a quandary.

“There are a lot of problems we can solve with this, but what’s the best problem we can solve with this?” Shekleton asked. “We’re just trying to figure out where the best markets are, and what the biggest problems are that we can come in and fix.”

Attaching unique digital identifiers to luxury goods and art is one use, but Shekleton said they’re also looking into the pharmaceutical industry for companies that need to monitor and prevent drug tampering and counterfeiting.

They’re also exploring how the technology’s use might translate to goods — both physical and virtual — that are traded online using virtual currencies, like non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

For now, the early-stage company is pitching its product to a variety of companies from its Manchester home, Shekleton said. They’re working on possible paid pilot projects for boutique clothing brands like Reese De Luca and Pistol Lake, and are shipping out demo kits as they firm up their intellectual property, Shekleton said.

“Luxury goods have been an easier sell than other avenues, but we’re still trying to find use cases [in other industries],” Shekleton said.