ScanTrust Raises $4.2 Million

ScanTrust, an industry-leading IoT platform for supply chain transparency and secure traceability, announced that it has closed a $4.2 million in Series A financing led by SVC-Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse that invests in innovative SMEs in Switzerland. Zurich-based Helvetica Capital AG acts as the exclusive investment advisor to SVC-Ltd. Other institutional investors joining this round include innogy Ventures (venture arm of innogy SE, one of the Europe’s largest utility companies), MIT alumni venture fund Castor Ventures, ID Capital Pte. (Singapore), the VC fund of Privilège Management SA, as well as existing investor SOSV and other strategic investors in the printing & packaging industry. In addition, Mr. Jürgen Bauer, a highly respected IT entrepreneur, advisor and investor, has joined ScanTrust’s Board of Directors.

ScanTrust provides a cloud-based IoT platform that connects individual products to the internet using its patent-protected technology for secure unique identifiers. Consumers and inspectors can use their phones to scan secure QR codes on products and receive real-time data about their authenticity and origin. This gives companies unprecedented visibility into their supply chains so they can monitor the flow of goods, conduct mobile product authentication, and engage consumers. 

The investment round builds on a busy year for ScanTrust, who has launched several large-scale projects with Global Fortune 1000 food & beverage companies, in addition to global rollouts of over 7,000 SKUs with industrial goods leader Leybold. A new partnership with Ramon Chozas for the Argentinian government to enable secure traceability and mobile authentication to ensure safety throughout the Argentine seed industry. 

“Consumer trust is fast becoming the primary driver of brand loyalty and companies providing increased transparency are being rewarded by their customers,” said Nathan J. Anderson, CEO and co-founder of ScanTrust. “Increasingly complicated cross-border supply chains and the rapid growth of counterfeit goods are challenging the traditional tracking systems used by companies. With no solution made for their needs, they are disadvantaged in a function that’s critical for providing the transparency that their customers are demanding. New digital tools are required to secure their supply chains and allow greater visibility at each stage, from sourcing to production to consumption.”

“Our secure QR codes and connected products platform has proven to be a solution, giving forward-looking companies the chance to build the foundation needed for true transparency by providing unit-level traceability, a medium to interact with customers and collecting valuable  business intelligence,” said Anderson. 

Leybold’s General Manager Carl Brockmeyer commented: “We are increasingly engaging in fast-paced and dynamic business environments. The integration of unique ScanTrust QR codes opens up entirely new business models and channels to interact with our customers worldwide, further enhancing Leybold’s efforts to digitize our supply chains and our continuous efforts to offer more valuable experiences to users of our products.” 

ScanTrust will use the new investment to further scale-up support and delivery of ScanTrust’s revolutionary supply chain projects with Global Fortune 1000 companies worldwide, as well as develop new features, expand business intelligence capabilities and fuel expansion into new verticals.  

(Press release)