YPB will integrate NVISO’s AI solutions into its product range. Pic via Getty Images.
YPB moves further into AI brand protection solutions with NVISO exclusivity deal
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YPB Group have bolstered their AI brand protection solutions after signing an exclusive deal with large-language model leader NVISO.
YPB Group (ASX:YPB) has signed a $250,000, 10-year exclusive deal with NVISO to extend YPB’s move into AI-based solutions across its established markets in brand authentication and consumer engagement.
YPB will pay quarterly royalties of 7.5% of the net amount of any receipts or the non-value of non-monetary payments received by the company from the development or sub-licensing of the NVISO AI solution.
Moving further into the AI space is an attractive prospect for investors, as businesses look to take advantage of the technology to lower capex and increase productivity.
NVISO’s expertise in deep learning models will be engaged in improving the accuracy, speed, and smartphone portfolio coverage of YPB’s revolutionary smartphone-based authentication product MotifMicro.
A pioneer in AI – backed with heavy investment and EU government support – NVISO works with Tier 1 brands to provide large-language model solutions for market leaders such as Panasonic and businesses involved in consumer robots, gaming and avatars, healthcare patient monitoring and automotive interior sensing.
Its patented Neuro Models technology uses high-quality datasets designed for ultra-low power edge devices, which enables YPB to accelerate and automate feature development of existing and new products and extend the company’s capability into the development of a range of AI-based solutions across its established markets.
YPB plans to further incorporate NVISO’s AI-based human behaviour models for its consumer and brand protection products. Pic supplied (YPB).
The deal further cements the two companies’ business relationship and YPB’s intention to utilise AI as a core part of its business model.
“Upgrading our AI skills via this relationship with an undoubted world leader has the potential to rapidly enhance and magnify the realisation of the latent value in our IP portfolio,” YPB executive chair John Houston says.
“New products for authentication of content across a range of media by Q3 2023 has been deferred into 2024 as our exclusive deal with NVISO will instead have us focusing on projects with the most immediate and certain payback.”
Brand protection
3D printing, AI and other ever-increasing technological advancements mean counterfeiting operations are decimating brands across multiple industries with fake products and misleading consumer engagement – and this cat-and-mouse game requires leaders in this space such as YPB to evolve.
Mordor Intelligence’s Brand Protection Solutions Market – Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2019 – 2024), estimated the value of the brand protection solutions sector at US$17.1 billion in 2019 and expects it to grow to ~US$27.4 billion by 2024 at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9%.
As counterfeiting continues to grow, businesses and governments will only increase investment in anti-counterfeiting solutions in order to protect their brands and ensure the authenticity of their products.
And YPB believes it can gain a competitive edge over its competitors by further incorporating AI into its consumer and brand protection product range.
Material use
One of YPB’s success stories is its patented tracer technology – easily incorporated into the raw materials used in the manufacture of products or packaging which causes no disruption to the existing production line or distribution process.
They’ve successfully applied covert tracer technology to over 1 billion products ranging from driver’s licences, electronic components, pharmaceutical packaging, artwork, clothing, building materials and more.
Energy-sensitive particles in its tracers respond only to certain infrared wavelengths – a security measure impossible to copy or reverse-engineer, and only detectable by YPB’s hand-held scanners.
And then COVID hit
Chalk it up as a blessing in disguise.
Catastrophic events can sometimes open up new doors, and in YPB’s case, it’s led the business to pivot its roadmap towards digital authentication solutions that harness the accelerating use of AI.
“During COVID, and like in many other industries, our ability to go to a factory and put a material tracer into a product basically evaporated overnight, and is only now starting to re-open, so we started looking at digitally transferrable technologies so we do not have to physically ship our product,” Houston says.
A move like this could very well see YPB on a trajectory towards becoming a leader in AI-based brand protection solutions.
“NVISO’s experience is going to assist us to be a stand-out actor within the authentication, protection and consumer engagement space,” Houston says.
“We see a strategic pathway to create solutions using AI in our core business.”
This article was developed in collaboration with YPB Group, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
