‘AI is transforming everything, but the infrastructure to keep sensitive data and models secure has not caught up,’ said Michiel Van Beirendonck, co-founder and CEO of Belfort. ‘Encrypted compute is the answer, but without hardware acceleration, it cannot be scaled up. The company that cracks that challenge could become the next billion-dollar company.’
Belfort builds on cryptographic research by the COSIC (‘Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography’) research group at KU Leuven. HiPEAC member Ingrid Verbauwhede, a global authority in cryptographic hardware, is a co-founder of Belfort and its head scientist. The research matured through several grants and projects including two European Research Council (ERC) grants and participation in a competitive US government contract with DARPA.
‘For decades, we have explored how to make computation secure by design. With Belfort, we are finally bringing those ideas into practice,’ commented Ingrid Verbauwhede. ‘For the first time, we see cryptographic theory translate so directly into usable, real-time systems. It is a game-changer for anyone who needs to protect sensitive data.’
Belfort has raised €5 million in seed funding to bring encrypted data processing into practical, real-time use. The funding round is led by Vsquared Ventures, with participation from Anagram, Protocol VC, Inovia Capital, Syndicate One, Prototype, Credibly Neutral, and high-profile angel investors including Jeff Dean (Google) and Naval Ravikant.
The Belfort founding team: Laurens De Poorter (COO), Furkan Turan (Head of Engineering), Michiel Van Beirendonck (CEO) and Ingrid Verbauwhede (Head Scientist). Photo by Fred Paulussen (Fredography)