Interview Questions for Vidyuth Srinivasan, Co-founder and CEO of Entrupy

Interview Questions for Vidyuth Srinivasan, Co-founder and CEO of Entrupy

In the bustling city of New York, a tech company named Entrupy is making waves in the world of commerce. Founded in 2016, Entrupy emerged from four years of rigorous academic research, led by Ashlesh Sharma, Vidyuth Srinivasan, and NYU Professor Lakshminarayanan Subramanian. The company specialises in using AI solutions to authenticate high-value consumer goods, with a focus on luxury items like handbags, accessories, and sneakers from brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, and more[1][4].

Entrupy's flagship product, Entrupy Fingerprinting, uses microscopy and AI to capture and record unique characteristics of items, enabling item-level identification and the prevention of return fraud[2]. This technology is designed to plug the trust deficit in commerce transactions with impersonal and unstructured supply chains, a crucial factor for the growth of the resale market[3].

The company's solutions are not just beneficial for consumers. They also protect retailers from the negative impact of product counterfeiting. Retailers can "register" high-value items by using the Entrupy app to capture a single microscopic image, which acts as a digital fingerprint and is stored securely in the Entrupy Cloud[5]. This digital fingerprint can be used at any point in the product lifecycle, including at the time of return, to verify the exact identity of the item[6].

Entrupy's technology is more secure than traditional solutions, as it is less prone to manipulation and does not rely on physical modifications of the product[7]. It is also non-intrusive, requiring no attachment or printing on the physical item, making it faster and easier to implement at any point in the supply chain[8].

Entrupy's success has not gone unnoticed. The company has gained adoption among hundreds of retailers, brands, secondary resellers, and marketplaces worldwide. It has also attracted investors including Yann LeCun (Facebook AI Research director), Zach Coelius, Eric Brewer (Google VP), and the Japanese firm Accord Ventures[1].

Looking to the future, Entrupy's expansion plans align with the broader luxury goods industry's movement to combine AI-driven authentication with blockchain and digital product passports to ensure traceability and combat fraud in both physical and digital resale markets[4]. The company is developing a solution, Entrupy Brij, to address issues related to trade across decentralized platforms and connect ownership in the real world with ownership in the metaverse[9].

Entrupy Brij allows owners to mint NFTs of physical objects, enabling various valuable actions like importing into the metaverse, proof of ownership, showing provenance, tracking asset value, verifying authenticity, and trading on non-traditional marketplaces and platforms[10]. This open solution could ultimately become a de facto standard across relevant blockchain ecosystems, wallets, marketplaces, manufacturers, and communities[10].

With its focus on authenticity, Entrupy's technology has great utility beyond luxury goods and in the metaverse. By leveraging AI vision systems alongside digital tools, Entrupy aims to bridge the gap between physical commerce and emerging metaverse environments, ensuring authenticity across physical items and their digital twins or representations[4]. This vision fits in with the growing adoption of technologies such as encrypted NFC tags and blockchain certificates pioneered by industry consortia like the Aura Blockchain Consortium[4].

Counterfeit goods cause a massive drain on the global economy, reduce tax revenues, fund additional criminal activity, and often rely on forced labor and toxic materials[11]. Entrupy's authentication solutions help combat these issues, using a combination of AI and microscopy to objectively assess the authenticity of an item with a reported accuracy around 99.1%[4][11]. The company's technology also helps detect "switch and return" fraud, a practice where counterfeit goods are sold as authentic, used, and then returned for a refund[11].

In summary, Entrupy's history starts with rigorous academic research culminating in a commercial AI-based authentication platform since 2016. Its future growth emphasizes integrating AI authentication with digital verification methods to serve luxury brands and marketplaces aiming to operate seamlessly across both physical and metaverse commerce ecosystems[1][4].

1. The technology used by Entrupy, a tech company in New York, combines academic research in artificial intelligence (AI) with microscopy to authenticate high-value consumer goods, like luxury items from brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel.
2. Entrupy's flagship product, Entrupy Fingerprinting, captures and records unique characteristics of items using AI, enabling item-level identification and preventing return fraud in commerce transactions.
3. Retailers can use the Entrupy app to create a digital fingerprint for high-value items, which is secured in the Entrupy Cloud and can be used at any point in the product lifecycle to verify authenticity.
4. Entrupy's technology is more secure than traditional solutions because it is less prone to manipulation and does not rely on physical modifications of the product.
5. Entrupy's success has led to adoption among hundreds of retailers, brands, and marketplaces worldwide, and has attracted investors including tech and finance leaders like Yann LeCun and Eric Brewer.
6. Looking to the future, Entrupy plans to integrate AI authentication with blockchain and digital product passports to ensure traceability and combat fraud in both physical and digital resale markets.
7. Entrupy's innovative solutions not only help consumers and retailers but also contribute to combating global issues caused by counterfeit goods, such as reducing tax revenues, funding criminal activity, and relying on forced labor and toxic materials.

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