Cybersecurity firm PQShield has secured $20m from a Series A funding round led by investor Addition.
Also participating in the funding round were Oxford Science Enterprises – formerly OSI – and Crane.
Headquartered in the UK, PQShield claims it is pioneering the development and commercial roll-out of advanced, quantum-ready cryptographic solutions for hardware, software and communications.
PQShield said its products are compatible with existing infrastructure and are ready for companies to deploy now, ensuring exceptional protection against today’s biggest threats as well as future quantum attacks. The company also has locations in the US, the Netherlands and France.
According to PQShield, the investment will be used to fuel further product development, hiring as well as to expand its presence in the US and EMEA and to launch in new markets including Japan. The company is also looking to double its team by the end of 2022.
PQShield said, “The funding comes at a key moment in the global race against the quantum security threat. Today, virtually every organisation, government and device in the world relies on public-key cryptography that will be rendered useless by large-scale quantum computers. The vast processing power of these machines will easily solve the mathematical problems underpinning public-key algorithms, putting sensitive information at risk.”
The firm said that the result could be devastating, with everything from medical records to national intelligence, financial transactions and intellectual property all exposed to decryption.
PQShield CEO and co-founder Ali El Kaafarani said, “As new cryptographic standards are finalised and rolled out, the scale of demand for quantum-ready solutions cannot be understated. From software to hardware, no industry is immune to the quantum threat, and as powerful quantum machines move ever closer, so does the risk of them falling into the wrong hands. This investment will enable us to double down on our growth, continue contributing to leading standards organisations like RISC-V International and NIST, and take another step towards protecting all businesses from this generation-defining security threat.”
Addition investor Lee Fixel added, “Thanks to an industry-leading team, decades of combined experience and a best-in-class product offering, PQShield has quickly emerged as a front runner and true authority in post-quantum cryptography for hardware and software, a field with enormous market potential. PQShield is already helping to define the future of information security, and we are excited to support their ongoing growth.”
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