Leading anti-counterfeiting specialist secures 250,000 from The Capital Fund

Total Brand Security, the global brand protection and counterfeiting prevention specialist, has raised 250,000 from The Capital Fund, a 50 million venture capital fund that invests in fast-growth companies in the Greater London area. The company will use the new funding to develop offices in Asia and expand its global sales and marketing team. 

Total Brand Security’s clients include leading players in the wines and spirits, pharmaceuticals, document transfer and electrical goods sectors. And whether it is developing infrared inks for use on the merchandising for premium branded drinks bottles, or highly secure individual labeling for tracking products from production line to consumer, Total Brand Security has access to all the cutting edge solutions that brand owners need.

CEO Jacob Scherf and managing director Adrian Simmons founded Total Brand Security in 2003, after having run the European and Asian business for Westvaco Brand Security (subsidiary of US-based packaging group, MeadWestvaco). They started off with a similar business model to Westvaco Brand Security and Total Brand Security has since established a reputation for providing highly effective anti-counterfeiting solutions to the brand and document security markets, and can implement its array of fraud-combating products anywhere, anytime.

Brand fraud is a rapidly growing problem and the brand protection market includes products and services that assist brand owners in the prevention of counterfeiting and grey marketing – distribution of a product through unauthorized channels. And with losses to the global economy from the trade in fake goods estimated at $1 trillion there is a massive worldwide demand for brand protection.

Adrian Simmons said: ‘It’s a never-ending problem. Counterfeiting crime is getting worse and worse, and is increasingly being used to provide finance for international organized crime or even terrorism. The secret is staying one step ahead of the fraudsters, which is a challenge. As soon as we develop technology to protect one particular brand, another more sophisticated method to get round the security appears or a new brand is attacked.

‘Our latest technique is the Naginels system, which uses laser technology to enable very fine etching of security data onto plastic or glass surfaces, such as fragrance bottles. We will be exhibiting the brand new Naginels technology for the first time at the Pharma Secure Chain event on November 14-16 in London, which will showcase the latest tracking technologies and best practice corporate strategies designed to protect patients, products and IP against fake drugs, counterfeiting and diversion.’

Part of the process used by Total Brand Security involves helping companies to become fully aware of the value of their brand as only then does the need for protection become apparent. Mr Simmons commented: ‘We like to give our customers a ten-fold return on their money. For a 1m investment with us we want to be able to demonstrate a 10m saving, whether from hard cash revenues put back on the company’s financial bottom line or from increasing market share. It’s very hard to put a cash value on a brand, and in many cases we need to develop awareness of the value that needs to be protected.’

The investment from The Capital Fund is the first injection of institutional funds into Total Brand Security. Mr Simmons said: ‘We were delighted with the speed of the fundraising process – following an initial approach in March, we had matters concluded by August. Michael Kennedy from The Capital Fund managed everything very efficiently. While it is obviously important to get everything in place correctly, the Fund also made sure that this happened as smoothly as possible.

‘The investment has come at a great time for us. We are in the process of developing a major presence in Asia, opening new offices in China, Thailand and Vietnam. Coupled with this is an expansion of our sales and marketing team to further diversify our client base and the solutions we can offer. We are also particularly pleased that we’ll be working with Ron Peer, one of the most experienced figures in the industry, who has been nominated to our board as a non-executive director by the Fund.  Ron knows the brand security market intimately, not least from his time as CEO of Inksure.’

The Capital Fund’s investment manager, Michael Kennedy, said: ‘We were delighted to be able to invest in Total Brand Security.  The company, with Jacob and Adrian at the helm, has built an excellent reputation with a very impressive roster of clients. One of the key factors in the company’s success is the fact that customers are offered a variety of solutions and access to the leading edge technologies that mean their brand protection techniques are kept one step ahead of the fraudsters. I look forward to following the further successes of the company as it continues to grow.’