fonto /ˈfonto/ (Esperanto): spring, well (water source), (figuratively) source
Counterfeit is costly. Only in EU, counterfeit products account for at least €60 billion in annual loss (link). Various sources estimate the worldwide annual loss due to counterfeit as over $400 billion.
The producer of original goods will attach NFC labels to their items before shipping, and place a cryptographically protected signature on each label. The difference from traditional RFID tags is that our labels are almost impossible to fake, and the origin of a signature is easily verifiable using a smartphone app. The verification would also work offline if mobile internet is unavailable.
Expensive goods can also be tracked, using a public blockchain, from shipment to the point of sale. The customer can quickly verify that the item was never sold before. Also on secondary market, the buyer will know that this is an original item, when it was originally purchased, and from which authorized seller.
NFC technology has been used for proof authenticity by various solution providers. But those were all proprietary solutions.
We offer an open standard and open-source reference software that enables this technology for everyone. Any independent software vendor is able to build a solution that is compatible with others. Mobile developers can offer their own apps for verifying the authenticity. We build an ecosystem.
A big fashion brand, a pharmaceutical manufacturer, or a small farmer will use the same technology to label their products. A buyer in a boutique, a doctor receiving the medical supplies, and a buyer at a city market will use the same technology (and probably the same app) to verify the origin of the goods. Government officers can utilize their own, probably open-source, version of software to check the authenticity.
We believe in ecosystem. And we've seen great communities built around open, inclusive solutions. We want to create technology that is available for everyone, like small creators of items for Etsy, farmers, and big fashion brands.