El Fedrigoni Group has announced the acquisition, through a capital increase, of a minority stake in SharpEnd / io.tt, the IoT solutions and consulting company led by Cameron Worth, CEO and founder. This operation consists of an initial investment, with a path to acquiring all the capital in the long term, and is part of the new corporate venture capital program that Fedrigoni has launched to identify startups with which to accelerate their innovation process. and acquisition of new technologies.
SharpEnd was founded in 2015 as the first Internet of Things (IoT) agency in the world, with the mission of helping brands develop their products, packaging and customer engagement through connected solutions, taking advantage of its own SaaS (software as a service) platform launched in 2019, called io.tt, which today manages billions of touchpoints across packaging and retail for many leading global beverage, beauty, wellness, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and luxury fashion brands.
“The world of connected products is increasingly strategic for us and this operation, which is highly complementary and synergistic with the recent acquisitions of Tageos (a French company specialized in the production of UHF/NFC inserts, acquired in 2022), and the Grenoble Research and Development Center (which joined the Group in 2023), will strengthen our portfolio of solutions in the world of labels and smart papers,” he says. Marco Nespolo, CEO of the Fedrigoni Group.
SharpEnd provides consulting solutions and services to support major brands, particularly in the luxury and consumer goods sectors, in the creation of products and smart packaging, which are essential for the security, authenticity and traceability of products, but also to offer end users increasingly attractive shopping experiences.
“Fedrioni and SharpEnd / io.tt are a perfect combination in this connected world,” he comments. Cameron Worth, founder and CEO of SharpEnd / io.tt, “capable of consolidating our position in the global market to develop new high-performance products and integrated solutions. There are countless potential synergies with the Group's two businesses, specialty papers and high-quality labels, and Fedrigoni's global network and presence in more than 130 countries will be a strong growth accelerator for us,” he adds. “I am excited and proud to welcome Fedrigoni to our Cap Table as a strategic investor and partner at our side on the path to making our io.tt platform increasingly the glue of the packaging ecosystem.”
