Silicon Valley startup Fabric Cryptography, in its aim to revolutionize digital privacy, has announced the procurement of $33 million in funding. This latest financing round was co-led by Blockchain Capital and 1kx, with additional backing from prominent players such as Polygon, Offchain Labs, and Matter Labs.
Fabric Cryptography, known for its innovative approach to enhancing privacy across the digital landscape, revealed that this Series A funding will fuel the development of their next-generation cryptographic technology. The company’s ambitious goal is to promote widespread adoption of privacy guarantees, leveraging cutting-edge advancements in encryption and authentication.
Central to Fabric’s strategy is their Verifiable Processing Unit (VPU), an AI-powered chip designed to elevate cryptography to new heights. Drawing parallels to Nvidia’s role in the AI industry, Fabric’s VPU aims to be the equivalent in the world of cryptography. The startup believes that this chip could transform how privacy and data security are managed, introducing what they term ‘mathematical trust’ into the equation.
“There exists a whole world of advanced cryptographic algorithms that go beyond protecting our data, and can actually begin to guarantee trust, if we can run them efficiently,” said Michael Gao, co-founder of Fabric Cryptography. “Billions of dollars have been poured into better AI chips of all kinds, but researchers and industry projects in cryptography have had to settle with CPUs or GPUs, which were never made for the kind of intensive math that advanced cryptography uses.”
Gao, alongside his co-founder Tina Ju, both dropouts from MIT and Stanford, have been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of cryptography. Their vision is to develop technology that not only protects data but also ensures it can be trusted, which is becoming increasingly important in a world where data breaches and privacy concerns are rampant.
The $33 million raised in this round builds on a previous $6 million seed round, bringing Fabric’s total funding to $39 million. The earlier seed round was led by Metaplanet, marking the startup’s journey from a promising idea to a major player in the cryptography space.
Fabric plans to use the new funds not only to accelerate the production of the VPU but also to scale up their software and cryptography teams. Additionally, they intend to expand their cloud infrastructure, which is crucial for the development and deployment of their advanced cryptographic solutions.
When will VPU Begin Production?
The VPU is expected to go into production later this year. Once launched, it is set to outperform traditional CPUs, GPUs, and fixed-function cryptography accelerators, offering greater speed and efficiency. The chip is designed to support and enhance existing cryptographic algorithms that provide strong privacy guarantees, such as zero-knowledge proofs, fully-homomorphic encryption, and multi-party computation. These are the very technologies that underpin privacy-focused cryptocurrencies like Zcash, which aim to offer users greater control over their data.
However, the rapid advancement in cryptographic technology is not without its challenges. Some experts express concern that the rise of surveillance hardware could potentially undermine the progress made by cryptocurrencies and other technologies in protecting user privacy. The balance between innovation and privacy will be a key issue to watch as Fabric Cryptography and others in the field continue to push forward.
In conclusion, Fabric Cryptography’s successful funding round marks an important moment in the ongoing evolution of digital privacy. With the backing of major investors and the introduction of their groundbreaking VPU, Fabric is set to make significant strides in the cryptography landscape.
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