Trust-Place

Trust-Place provides a platform using digital certificates to enhance post-purchase experiences for luxury brands. It assigns each product a secure, traceable digital identity, enabling lifecycle monitoring, CRM data capture, and personalized customer engagement. This transforms products into dynamic contact points, fostering deeper brand-owner relationships.

Co-founded in 2020 by Gaëlle Delore and Didier Mattalia, Trust-Place emerged from their fifteen years in fashion and luxury. They pioneered RFID/NFC authentication for luxury goods and deployed IoT platforms for data intelligence in major houses, insights directly informing Trust-Place's offering.

The company targets premium and luxury markets including fashion, design, and collectibles. Trust-Place envisions digital certificates as the benchmark for trust, loyalty, and enduring value, empowering brands to authenticate products, understand ownership, and build lasting customer relationships beyond sale.

High-Level Overview

Trust-Place is a French SaaS startup founded in 2020 that provides blockchain-based digital certificates for product authentication and post-purchase traceability. It serves luxury brands in sectors like fashion, furniture, luxury goods, electronics, and mobility, solving counterfeiting, regulatory compliance (e.g., EU Digital Product Passport), and customer disconnection in indirect channels by enabling direct engagement with all owners—including wholesale buyers, gifters, and second-hand resellers.[1][2][3][5] The platform captures lifecycle data to boost authenticity verification, loyalty through personalized services (e.g., care, resale, notifications), and sustainability in circular economies, with recent €4M fundraising in 2024 signaling strong growth momentum via expanded offices in Paris, China, and the USA.[2]

Origin Story

Trust-Place was created in 2020 by Gaëlle Delore and Didier Mattalia, both with over 15 years in fashion and luxury industries, headquartered in Marseille, France.[1][2][4] Delore brings expertise in general management, financial strategy, and luxury growth, while Mattalia specializes in international sales, business development, and pioneering RFID/NFC-based authentication and traceability for major European luxury houses.[2][4] The idea emerged from their experience revolutionizing upstream data collection via IoT, evolving to address post-purchase gaps; after a year of R&D in 2021 for a secure, brand-friendly blockchain solution, they achieved prototype readiness and began targeting luxury's shift toward inclusivity, sustainability, and circular models amid new consumer expectations.[2][4]

Core Differentiators

• Blockchain-Powered Digital Passports: Tamper-proof certificates linked to products via secure IDs, guaranteeing authenticity and enabling traceability across the full lifecycle, including second-hand markets, while complying with regulations like the EU DPP.[2][3][5]
• Post-Purchase Customer Connection: Unlocks direct CRM data from indirect channels (wholesale, gifting, resale), allowing personalized services like push notifications, care/repair offers, and one-click resale to transform buyers into loyal brand members.[1][3][5]
• SaaS Simplicity and Speed: Easy-to-deploy platform for brands to create/manage certificates, with robust R&D ensuring developer-friendly, scalable integration; focuses on luxury's high-value needs like counterfeiting combat and revenue streams from usage data.[2][3]
• Proven Expertise and Network: Founders' 15+ years in luxury tech (RFID/IoT) provide deep domain knowledge; recent €4M raise and global offices enhance execution, with client testimonials (e.g., Adam Lippes) highlighting elegant, brand-aligned deployment.[2][5]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Trust-Place rides the wave of digital product passports and circular economy mandates, amplified by EU regulations requiring traceability for sustainability and anti-counterfeiting in luxury and high-value goods.[1][3] Timing aligns with post-2020 shifts: younger consumers demand authenticity, transparency, and resale options amid rising fakes (luxury counterfeiting costs billions annually), while blockchain matures for secure, scalable SaaS.[2][4] Market forces like e-commerce growth, second-hand platforms (e.g., resale booming 20-30% yearly), and CRM evolution favor it, positioning Trust-Place to influence ecosystems by standardizing post-purchase data flows—bridging brands with hidden customers and enabling new revenue in a $500B+ luxury market trending toward traceability tech.[1][5]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Trust-Place is poised to scale as a post-purchase trust layer for luxury, leveraging its €4M fuel and global footprint to capture share in DPP-compliant tools amid regulatory tailwinds.[2] Upcoming trends like AI-driven personalization and Web3 ownership (NFT-like certificates) will amplify its data moat, potentially expanding beyond luxury to electronics/mobility; influence may grow via partnerships with resale giants, evolving from authenticator to full lifecycle orchestrator. As blockchain SaaS matures, expect Trust-Place to redefine brand-customer bonds, turning one-time purchases into perpetual relationships—proving purchase is just the beginning.[5]