A Leeds University spinout has secured £2.2 million in funding to revolutionise the cybersecurity market.
Cavero Quantum is set to commercialise its quantum passwordless secure cryptography technology with the investment round, led by Foresight and Northern Gritstone.
The encryption tech for secure key generation and authentication is compatible with legacy hardware, requires little bandwidth and has the potential to be potentially secure against cyber attacks by quantum computers.
The technology is attractive to a wide range of sectors and has immediate market application through replacing multi-factor authentication and one-time passwords with a high security, frictionless, passwordless form of authentication.
Founded by Professor Ben Varcoe and Dr Frey Wilson, Cavero Quantum will now look to launch its first product. Prof. Varcoe – a former founding director and chief scientific officer at Creavo Medical Technologies – will support the business alongside his existing role as Professor of Quantum Information Science at the University of Leeds, while Dr Wilson will become chief technology officer.
As part of the investment, the founders will be supported by the appointment of James Trenholme as CEO and Andrew Wallace as chair. Trenholme is an experienced software entrepreneur who previously founded and exited an identity services startup, whilst Wallace has significant DeepTech experience in quantum computing.
Listed Foresight invested alongside Northern Gritstone, an investment company dedicated to supporting ambitious science and technology-enabled businesses in the North of England, including through its venture-building program NG Studios powered by Deeptech Labs, in which Cavero Quantum participated earlier this year.
“Whilst Cavero Quantum’s technology is potentially revolutionary to quantum cryptography, it offers the potential for immediate improvements on existing cryptographic approaches due to its dual authentication and passwordless nature, thereby providing improved security against existing cyber attacks,” said Richard Ralph, investment manager at Foresight.
“The technology has been independently validated and we look forward to working with Ben, Frey, James, Andrew and Northern Gritstone to commercialise this innovative technology.”
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Trenholme commented: “The technology that Ben, Frey and the experimental quantum science team at the University of Leeds have built really is ground-breaking technology.
“It’s the first solution in the world that can replace security standards like ECDH without compromising on architecture and customer experience, keeping data safe for the future as Quantum computing becomes the norm.
“It’s an honour to lead Cavero Quantum. This is a great team, and I’m looking forward to building a great business together.”
Duncan Johnson, CEO at Northern Gritstone, added: “Cavero Quantum’s technology is applicable today and has the potential to allow individuals, businesses and nations to function safely in a post-quantum world.
“Spun out of the University of Leeds’ innovation ecosystem, one of Northern Gritstone’s university partners, Cavero Quantum is an example of a world-class business of tomorrow built on the amazing science and technology that exists in the North of England today.”