Zama, a French cryptography startup, raises $73 million in Series A funding round led by Multicoin Capital and Protocol Labs. Their Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) technology aims to revolutionize data privacy and processing on the internet.

Startup Zama, a French company specializing in cryptography, is making significant strides in enabling computation on encrypted data without the need for decryption. Securing a substantial $73 million in a Series A funding round, the company is poised for substantial growth.

Backed by prominent industry investors such as Multicoin Capital and Protocol Labs, Zama's CEO Rand Hindi unveiled plans to advance the adoption of their Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) technology on March 7.

Described by Hindi as the "holy grail of cryptography," Zama's FHE technology seeks to establish data privacy as a fundamental aspect of internet operations while facilitating data processing tasks like those in cloud computing.

"Consider a scenario where you possess a confidential message that needs to remain hidden, yet you require someone else to perform computations on it without access to the actual content," explained Pascal Paillier, Zama's chief technology officer, in an interview with Cointelegraph.

Paillier elaborated that FHE functions akin to a "magical box" where users can securely place their confidential messages. Once locked, others can conduct computations on the encrypted data without ever accessing or revealing the original message. He illustrated:

"The remarkable aspect is that external parties can perform computations on the locked box without ever unveiling its contents. Upon completion, the box can be unlocked, revealing the computed result while keeping the original message safeguarded."

Zama has already attracted several significant clients since its establishment in 2020, including Shiba Inu, which has integrated Zama's technology to establish a comprehensive network state. In late February 2024, SHIB implemented a new FHE-enabled privacy infrastructure aimed at enhancing on-chain privacy.

"By simplifying the accessibility and efficiency of FHE for developers, Zama aims to empower businesses to leverage cloud computing and related technologies without compromising data privacy," Paillier emphasized. The company is committed to developing user-friendly tools, libraries, and platforms that seamlessly integrate FHE into everyday digital services, enabling firms to adopt advanced encryption technologies without specialized expertise.

Paillier also highlighted Zama's breakthrough in balancing on-chain transparency with off-chain privacy, enabling developers to deploy confidential smart contracts on encrypted data without sacrificing confidentiality or composability.