{"id":1146,"date":"2019-04-23T00:13:10","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T00:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/?page_id=1146"},"modified":"2019-04-25T01:58:54","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T01:58:54","slug":"susan-creamer-ceo-of-holatech","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/en\/susan-creamer-ceo-of-holatech\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish blockchain technology against counterfeiting: Interview with Susan Creamer, CEO of HolaTECH"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/1003825_290190081126672_1756847621_n.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-1148\" src=\"http:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/1003825_290190081126672_1756847621_n.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"355\" height=\"370\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/1003825_290190081126672_1756847621_n.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/1003825_290190081126672_1756847621_n-288x300.jpg 288w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/holatech.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HolaTECH\u00a9<\/a> is a provocative technology start-up based in Madrid, Spain to combat counterfeiting in all its guises. They have developed a broad suite of software solutions to help protect brands, and more importantly, prevent consumers from being duped into purchasing anything that is not genuine. They achieve this through their own QR ID code system using secure technology incorporating Distributed Ledger Technology (underpinned by blockchain).\u00a0Their engineering team is in Talevera de la Reina, Toledo, one hour outside of Madrid, Spain.<\/p>\n<p>USEC had a unique opportunity to hold an exclusive interview with HolaTECH&#8217;s CEO, Susan Creamer, who is visiting the US regularly to meet investors and customers. She is a member of USEC and will be on her way back to the USA in early May 2019 for further discussions for seed funding with Investors out of Chicago and D.C trying to raise around 3 Million USD. She can be contacted at\u00a0susan.creamer@holatech.io.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1) For those not familiar with Blockchain, can you explain in a few words what this technology provides and how your company uses it to provide an effective way to fight counterfeit goods?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Principally for its absolute transparency and, thus security. Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is the generic name for a system of interconnected data nodes (or virtual ledgers\u201d a chain of blocks\u201d) that permit inspection of the journey taken by a product from creation to final sale (it can also be extended to the supply of raw materials). These modules are transparent (accessible) to any accredited individual (including Government officials) with any digital entry made in a module immediately visible. Entries cannot be deleted or altered. Consequently, any criminal update or manipulation is obvious.<\/p>\n<p>The Scan2Know\u00a9 solution, developed by HolaTECH builds the nodes necessary to validate the supply process. As each sequence in the process is completed, the relevant node is data and time-stamped with the serial number of the product or product batch. The stamping is generated by the HolaTECH system, without human intervention. The HolaTECH solution is based on a private blockchain with access to modules limited to designated organisations\/individuals who access a secure server using 2-factor authentication (2FA) to add a further layer of robustness.<\/p>\n<p>This protects commercial interests without compromising the security of the solution.<\/p>\n<p>The blockchain offers an effective audit trail of every transaction, showing where an asset came from and every stop it made on its journey, and because it creates an indelible record offers much greater security and visibility.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2) To have an idea of the impact that your start-up can make, can you provide an estimate of the volume of counterfeit goods in a few key sectors?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As a lot of counterfeiting goes undetected the figures for the size of losses for each sector can vary, and all these are educated estimates. But what is clear is that whatever the real figure, it is huge number, and possibly even bigger than the highest estimates. However, here is some of the latest available data:<\/p>\n<p><em>Summary data from the Global Brand\u00a0Counterfeiting\u00a0Report 2018-2020<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The amount of total\u00a0counterfeiting\u00a0globally has reached to\u00a02 Trillion USD in 2017 and is bound to reach 1.82 Trillion USD by the year 2020\u00a0which includes\u00a0counterfeiting\u00a0of all equipment\/products from defense equipment\u2019s to\u00a0counterfeiting\u00a0of watches.<\/li>\n<li>The Global Brand\u00a0Counterfeiting\u00a0Report, 2018 estimates that the\u00a0losses suffered\u00a0due to online\u00a0counterfeiting\u00a0globally has amounted to\u00a0323 Billion USD in the year 2017.<\/li>\n<li>The estimated losses due to\u00a0counterfeiting\u00a0of high-end consumer goods amounted to\u00a098 Billion USD<\/li>\n<li>The losses incurred by\u00a0Luxury Brands because of sale of\u00a0counterfeiting\u00a0through internet accounted to\u00a03 Billion USD.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"height: 906px;\" width=\"777\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"253\"><strong>CATEGORY<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"196\"><strong>% Total value of seized\u00a0counterfeit\u00a0and pirated goods worldwide 2016<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"85\"><strong>Value in\u00a0Billion $<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Footwear<\/td>\n<td>22%<\/td>\n<td>111.98<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Clothing<\/td>\n<td>16%<\/td>\n<td>81.44<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Leather Goods<\/td>\n<td>13%<\/td>\n<td>66.17<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Electrical Equipment<\/td>\n<td>12%<\/td>\n<td>61.08<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Watches<\/td>\n<td>7%<\/td>\n<td>35.63<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Medical Equipment<\/td>\n<td>5%<\/td>\n<td>25.45<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perfumes &amp; Cosmetics<\/td>\n<td>5%<\/td>\n<td>25.45<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Toys<\/td>\n<td>3%<\/td>\n<td>15.27<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jewelry<\/td>\n<td>2%<\/td>\n<td>10.18<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Pharmaceuticals<\/td>\n<td>2%<\/td>\n<td>10.18<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Other Industries<\/td>\n<td>12%<\/td>\n<td>61.08<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>TOTAL<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>$509 billion<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>3) HolaTech\u2019s headquarters and engineering team are based in Spain, but its potential market is global and direct access to venture capital might be a challenge. What advantages and disadvantages do you see in the current structure of the company?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You mean beyond living in one of the world\u2019s greatest capital cities?! \u00a0I believe Spain offers a highly educated and sometimes underappreciated engineering talent pool with relatively low Labour costs. We operate in a stable democracy with stable government coupled with EU backed incentives to develop nascent tech industry. There is a growing interest in Spain as an investment destination with the USA as 4th highest investing country and numbers clearly show all inward investment in Spain increased by 50% between 2012 \u2013 2018. Spain has strong links with Latin America and the USA has proven to like Spanish products with strong Spanish Govt backing to all exporters.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, I recognize many target brands in North America with European subsidiaries rarely HQd in Spain but we believe that may change post Brexit as Spain is increasingly seen as an advanced economy with a high quality of life. An interesting deviation to the European HQ location is IBM \u2013 our technology partner \u2013 who have taken advantage of the large, highly qualified local tech talent pool. The team based in Spain is made up of a blend of locals and international professionals, each with a wealth of experience in business as well as technology, bringing value as a team to assist the ramp-up growth of HolaTECH.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4) What can you share about your company\u2019s plans to expand its footprint internationally\u00a0<\/strong><strong>and in particular regarding its US presence?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We think HolaTECH has already created an interesting footprint across Europe with our tech and leadership team based in Spain, sales in Switzerland, Communication out of France and the UK. All but our tech team operate from home enabling our team to at least strive for that work \u2013 life balance that often proves difficult during this start-up stage. We as a team want to be close to the brands that will benefit from our solution and believe we can do this from Europe but so much better as we expand and aim to offer high customer support levels in same time zone. We are ambitious and know that a market presence is often the game changer and already identifying suitable talent, through our network, in the US and other potential markets where we will need to have a presence in the near future.<\/p>\n<p><b>5) Unfortunately, many people associate Blockchain, the underlying\u00a0technology, with one of its many applications, cryptocurrencies, and more specifically Bitcoin, whose price dropped 80% last year. What can you say about the potential for Blockchain to become a solid, long-term disruptive innovation in some sectors?<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The issue is not the technology but the use to which it is put. Cryptocurrencies are viewed in pejorative terms with money laundering associations. However, the success of these (and blockchain value shifts a reflection of a robust market) is a vindication of the root technology. Increasingly we are seeing examples of the ways that blockchain can be used for social good &#8211; giving people in developing markets access to bank accounts, providing secure voting systems in emerging democracies and, of course, food, drink and medicine security as well as more mundane commercial solutions.\u00a0In a recent Ernst &amp; Young article (28<sup>th<\/sup>March 2019) about blockchain the company stated \u201c2019 is shaping up to be a breakthrough 12 months for the technology\u201d. While still thin on the ground, use cases are proving the benefits of blockchain and disassociating the technology from the opaque world of cryptocurrencies to the disrupting the marketplace and revolutionizing many business and business models, in particular with the disintermediation of the supply of products and services.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6) Your prior experience was in the Spanish food and wine sector. What led you to make such a drastic change and what lessons have you learned from that transition?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I am getting this question a lot, as to how anyone can flip from one particular career path and go off in a totally different direction; for me it\u2019s the easiest answer in all your questions, it changed because I changed.<\/p>\n<p>I am here because of a five second slip on a wet car park floor one busy Friday night leaving the office in central Madrid in March 2017.\u00a0 One slip, one ambulance, one broken left arm, wrist, hand and badly bruised body, multiple surgical interventions, 10 months in rehab relearning how to function through a pain complication which ironically gave me time to breath. Working full time, travelling with my three sons and husband at home, I often lived my life with what was going on in front of my face but didn\u2019t have the time or energy to delve deep into areas that did not DIRECTLY impact my world, my professional life or my bubble. I could have reeled off stats on gin or whisky, on markets from Shanghai to San Francisco but other sectors, not so much!<\/p>\n<p>My accident took me out of that bubble and forced me to look at life in a high dependency unit where men and women had amputations or in wheel chairs\u00a0who fought every day to take a step, I thought I was in pieces until I looked around me and found I was without question the healthiest patient in the unit.\u00a0Trust me, I was a minor league patient with a high pain disorder (CRPS)\u00a0left with\u00a0a paralyzed left arm but up against these warrior men and women, I was fresh as a daisy. And in the friendships I built with both the medical team and these triumphant humans, I began to care deeply about each and every one of not just this unit, but every human who was fighting pain battles daily and I knew, we were the lucky ones, we had private healthcare, the best of professionals and pharmaceutical drugs that made us function better. Others globally are not so lucky, 450,000 children die annually from counterfeit malaria medication. Prince the artist died from an overdose involving counterfeit opioids\u00a0a crisis that is paralyzing the streets of the USA.\u00a0\u00a0And there in lay the journey from a hospital unit to a kitchen table discussion when someone asked me could block chain verify premium whiskies and I said \u201cYes we could do that, but why not do it for medicines and vaccines, high end luxury goods, football shirts and why not take this piece of architecture and take it all the way to the street for everyone?.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I called it HolaTECH because I am not techie, I am not a block chain specialist, I am not some woman with decades of history leading Fortune 500 companies but what I am is, determined to take take that one slip, that one moment, that one experience and flip it 360 and take this piece of Spanish tech into the market to stop men, women and children suffering from counterfeit of any kind that swamp our market place, take it to the street as it were henceforth HolaTECH works as everyone understands Hola.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7) It is rare to see women leading technology start-ups, both in Spain and the US. What advice would you give to young women that may be interested in entrepreneurship?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sadly, it is often rare to see women leading any company across any sector, but it is changing, and I believe changing fast but maybe not fast enough. Often times working in the same place, men and women have vastly different work experiences because men can look up the chain and see other male leaders and role models they can aspire to. For women it is different, we look up and often don\u2019t see leadership roles filled by women; that is what I want to see changing for tomorrow\u2019s generation of women leaders and to do that, there needs to be a shift in thinking at all levels not just the board room. Young female professionals need to look up the chain and see women leading companies, shaping strategy as with more women in positions of leadership our work place can be more adaptive and productive.<\/p>\n<p>To young women, I would urge them to believe that we are working hard to change the thinking, that we are making strides to create a more equal and balanced board room of decision makers but it&#8217;s a process and takes time. Leadership irrespective of gender takes courage, tenacity and sometimes a keen ability to know how to choose your battles and know when to walk away and be gracious, always. It is only through an environment of mutual respect and understanding, and a cultural shift in management thinking that we can truly achieve a landscape for today\u2019s young women to take up the mantel on a pathway paved today. We can\u2019t sit around and talk about it, it is incumbent upon us to just do it. And please look in the mirror and say &#8220;I can do that, I can start a company&#8221; and this generation of female leaders are busy creating that pathway so look up.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HolaTECH\u00a9 is a provocative technology start-up based in Madrid, Spain to combat counterfeiting in all its guises. They have developed a broad suite of software solutions to help protect brands, and more importantly, prevent consumers from being duped into purchasing anything that is not genuine. They achieve this through their own QR ID code system [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-1146","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1146"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1155,"href":"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1146\/revisions\/1155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usspainexecutives.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}