Aura Blockchain Consortium, a luxury brand launched by Prada and Louis Vuitton in 2021, has announced its new Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Romain Carrere. Carrere will also act as the General Secretary of the Swiss non-profit association.
The consortium is an association of luxury brands utilizing blockchain technology to improve the transparency of their products. The new CEO joins the platform at its “new phase growth.”The consortium offers its member brands Software as a Service(SaaS), NFT minting, and authentication functionality.
Carrere’s career background
The CEO has over fifteen years of experience as a tech entrepreneur advising Luxury brands and Web3 startups on their digital policies. He also has experience advising companies on using blockchain, metaverse projects, and NFTs to achieve their objectives. Carrere possesses a bachelor’s degree from Bentley University and a master’s from SCP Business School.
He has been active in delegations such as the G20 summit in Tokyo, where he represented the French techpreneurs, demonstrating his dedication to improving the global tech industry. In addition, he pledged to continue pursuing boundaries using blockchain technology. Also, he added that he anticipates pushing for the adoption of the technology, raising customer experience in the consortium and to other luxury brands.
He succeeds Daniela Ott, who held the position since the consortium’s launch in 2021 by the founding companies, Mecedez Benz Group, Diesel Parent OTB Group, Moet Hennesy, Prada, Loui Vuitton, Maison Margiela and Compagnie Financière Richemont’s Cartier brand. The former CEO was described as one whose next move was unpredictable.
Lorenzo Bertelli, the head of corporate social responsibility, the marketing director, and the chairman of Aura, appreciated Ott for her two successful years leading the consortium Aura, based in Geneva. He said Ott left a strong foundation to propel the group for the next chapter.
We are delighted to have Romain join our Consortium […] With his extensive background, he brings invaluable experience that will help steer the Consortium into a new strategic phase and fulfill our vision on a global scale.
Lorenzo Bertelli, Chairman of Aura Blockchain Consortium
The group marketing director added that the new CEO brings invaluable insight that will guide the consortium into its new phase and help it achieve its global vision. He called the consortium ‘unique,’ with a special position in the industry.
Aura Blockchain Consortium Operation
The nonprofit initiative sets the standard for luxury brands’ digital transformation by offering blockchain solutions to its members. The rivals Cartier, Prada, and LV formed the consortium Aura to leverage shared blockchain solutions for the luxury brands in 2021.
The consortium comprises more than twenty-five brands, which helps them cruise seamlessly from the manufacturer to the direct consumer. Aura provides authentification functionality to all its members, Saas and NFT minting on a blockchain compatible with Ethereum, advancing their customer experience to unimaginable levels.
Some popular use cases of a Saas solution include a Christian Dior token-based sneakers collection where the shoe owners could collect their shoes’ authenticity certificate and learn about the manufacturing process. Louis Vuitton also applied Auras NFT mint service via Treasure Trunks.
Aura Consortium recently partnered with Coinhouse, a digital asset solutions provider, to broaden its services to its members by offering digital currency solutions that would enable an automated conversion of crypto to Euros. The consortium can now, through this partnership, support its member company’s wallets by executing a know-your-transaction analysis to counter money laundering.
Regardless of the NFT and blockchain community’s challenges, the consortium has pursued its vision for a luxury blockchain. The former CEO stated that they had already implemented their plan to leverage blockchain technology’s immutability to help luxury brands combat counterfeit products and track their products by logging in millions of products and issuing digital replicas along with their physical products to ensure authenticity.
Member brands have previously stated that they would add information on the brand’s heritage, enabling them to tell a story of their products to their customers. Aura is open to all brands, stating that it would be much more beneficial when all stakeholders get a standardized operation system.
