collectID equips 120’000 fooball jerseys for Brazil’s Atlético Mineiro

St. Gallen based collectID combines encrypted, smartphone-ready NFC (near-field communication) tags with secure, immutable NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on blockchain to guarantee a product’s authenticity 100% and with just a few taps. By creating a digital twin of the products on the blockchain, the company enables brands to prove the authenticity of their products at any time, protecting consumers from accidentally buying counterfeit products.

The startup has already signed more than 15 clients and equipped more than 200’000 products with its technology. “This is just the beginning”, says David Geisser, Founder & CEO of collectID. “A club like Manchester United sells between 5 to 10 million products annually that could be equipped with our technology – this is only one of the hundreds of big clubs. The sports industry is only one of the various interesting industries where we could apply our solution (e.g. luxury fashion or fine wine)”, he elaborates further.

The company is now setting foot In the Latin American Region (LATAM) following its partnership with Clube Atlético Mineiro, one of Brazil’s oldest and best-supported football clubs. According to Geisser, the club approached the startup to authenticate its exclusive jersey edition, “Manto Da Massa 113”, whose design celebrates its 113th anniversary. The multi-awarded jersey is also internationally recognized as the most significant release of 2021 in LATAM and the world’s second-largest release of football jerseys.

First smart jersey in Brazil
As part of the partnership, collectID will equip 120 000 football jerseys with its blockchain-connected NFC tags, making it the first-ever smart jersey sold in Brazil. With collectID technology, every jersey becomes genuinely unique and is safe against any form of counterfeiting. Fans receive not only a physical product but also a digital version directly onto their smartphone. In addition, Atlético Mineiro will communicate directly with fans via the jerseys and provide them with additional content, such as match highlights or visuals. For the purchaser of the jersey, the collectID technology means that the jersey becomes even more valuable, as its uniqueness and authenticity are guaranteed.

In Brazil, where football is almost a religion, Geisser sees a massive opportunity for collectID to further expand within the LATM region. “This new deal proves that collectID is a global solution that can be scaled up easily. We have already experienced a lot of interest for our solution from other clubs in Brazil and LATAM after the partnership with Atlético Mineiro,” says Geisser.

(RAN)