VerifyMe‘s Europe expansion will be led by Paul Vitali

Brand protection firm VerifyMe has appointed business development specialist Paul Vitali to head its new European division and office.

Vitali (pictured right) – who has more than 20 years’ experience in the apparel, pharmaceutical and beverage industries and is also managing partner of Evolution Consultancy & Technology - is based in Zug, Switzerland, and will serve as VerifyMe’s vice president of business development for Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA).

Headquartered in Rochester, New York, VerifyMe offers proprietary invisible security inks with cloud-based serialization and blockchain-backed track-and-trace software, as well as a digital platform that authenticates people using biometrics and other verification processes.

The company’s chief executive – Patrick White – said that Vitali will “assist with our ongoing work with existing contacts and is expected to create new opportunities to expand VerifyMe's presence in his territories.”

Up until February Vitali worked for HolaTECH, a track-and-trace and product authentication company operating a system based on IBM’s Blockchain Hyperledger platform.

He said that the apparel, pharmaceutical and beverage sectors are all in need of increased security authentication, adding: “I have already identified multiple targets with a goal of attaining 10 new active clients or pilots in 2020,”

Major apparel brands need to address problems associated with sustainability, product diversion, verification of product, materials, ingredients, production, counterfeiting and customer engagement, according to Vitali.

At the same time, pharma needs authentication, anti-counterfeit, anti-diversion and track and trace capabilities, and the beverage industry needs ‘barley to bottle’ authentication, he added.