Tech
PQShield, a cybersecurity company specializing in post-quantum cryptography, has just raised a $20 million Series A. Check out the 11-slide pitch deck it used to land the cash.
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- The cybersecurity startup PQShield just raised $20 million for post-quantum cryptography.
- Current encryption could be broken by a quantum computer, a problem PQShield wants to solve.
- New cryptography standards are being set by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology this year.
You might soon be walking around with PQShield’s technology in your pocket.
The UK-based startup is developing post-quantum cryptography with the goal of protecting our most personal data — finances, healthcare, and private conversations — from hackers.
Superfast quantum computers pose a threat to cryptography, the encryption techniques used to protect sensitive information. The race is on to develop “post-quantum” security that can’t be broken. PQShield builds hardware, software, and communications cryptography that aim to do that.
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The company, which spun out of Oxford University in 2018, has just landed $20 million in Series A funding.
“You’ve got your phone, you’ve got applications on your phone, you’ve got your bank card, you’ve got your car key, you’ve got your automated house. Everything around you is connected,” the founder Ali El Kaafarani told Insider.
“All the information that we’re exchanging over the internet between devices about ourselves — we think it’s staying confidential and secret because we’re using cybersecurity means. It can be intercepted and collected easily.”
The risk is that anyone with a quantum computer potentially has the power to access this kind of sensitive data. Access to quantum computers is still limited, but the founder echoes industry concern that hackers could harvest data now and decrypt it later.
PQShield says it is developing technology for credit cards that uses post-quantum cryptography to authenticate its user. Kaafarani said it is “very likely” that people will be using this to withdraw cash or pay for shopping in the next five to 10 years.
It is also building an upgraded version of the underlying protocol for encrypted messaging services such as Signal and WhatsApp.
The startup says it is the only cybersecurity company that can demonstrate quantum-safe cryptography on chips, in applications, and in the cloud. Kaafarani stressed the importance of a full-stack service for maximum security.
“If you have one secure thing and another secure thing, you put that together, they can form an insecure system. It doesn’t matter if you have one secure component and another secure component, it’s all about how they are working together,” he said.
PQShield is working with device manufacturers and defense and superconductor companies, it said, with customers spread across the globe. It is a supply-chain partner that licenses its technology to partners.
Kaafarani said he has seen interest in the run-up to new global cryptography standards being set by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology, which are expected this year.
Post-quantum security has also been on governments’ agenda. The White House issued a cybersecurity memorandum mentioning “quantum-resistant cryptography” last week, while the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre published a white paper in 2020.
The Series A was led by New York-based Addition, with participation from the existing early-stage investors Oxford Science Enterprises, formerly OSI, and London-based Crane.
Kaafarani said the fresh funds will be used to triple the startup’s existing team of 15, launch new products in the semiconductor and defense sectors, and enter new markets. It brings the company’s total raised to $27 million.
Check out the pitch deck PQShield used to raise the cash below.