Silence Laboratories, a startup that utilizes multiparty computation (MPC) to safeguard enterprises’ private data and ensure security, has announced the completion of a $4.1 million funding round. The investment was led by Pi Ventures and Kira Studio, with additional support from angel investors. This latest development brings Silence’s total raised to $6 million.
Using Multiparty Computation for Enhanced Security
The startup’s infrastructure relies on MPC, a subset of cryptography that enables multiple parties to collaborate without exposing sensitive information to each other. This approach allows enterprises to maintain control over their private data while still benefiting from the insights derived from collaborative processing.
Founding Story and Product Development
Silence Laboratories was founded in 2021 by Dr. Jay Prakash (CEO), Dr. Andrei Bytes (CTO), and Dr. Tony Quek, following more than a decade of research and development in applied cryptography and application security. Initially, the company focused on multifactor authentication but later pivoted to building cryptographic security solutions.
"We discovered a product-market fit in privacy-preserving decentralized authorization and computation while speaking with early customers who were creating digital asset-based products," explained Dr. Prakash. "We have since been developing cryptographic libraries to address the issue of a single point of failure and exposure of secrets, both at rest and in use."
Growing Concerns Over Data Privacy
As consumers become increasingly aware of data privacy issues, regulators worldwide are implementing stricter requirements to protect user information. Large corporations must now manage the data they collect and safeguard it from potential leaks by hackers.
"Traditional methods of credit scoring, financial risk analysis, or money laundering tracking require collecting all relevant data in one location and then processing it," noted Dr. Prakash. "This exposes the processing entity to significant risks and liabilities, deterring collaborations. We’ve observed through various studies that guaranteeing privacy enables richer collaborations, which can lead to better-quality data and analysis."
Products and Users
Silence Laboratories offers two products utilizing MPC technology:
- Silent Shard: An audited solution by Trail of Bits that limits the risk of exposing sensitive private keys while implementing advanced authorization rules.
- Silent Compute: Enables corporations to collaborate on processing information without revealing their own private data, enriching insights while maintaining compliance and trust.
The startup operates under a B2B licensing model, providing libraries with platform-agnostic packages. Its target customers include digital asset enterprises, financial organizations, healthcare companies, and telecommunication firms.
Customer Base and Revenue Growth
More than 20 enterprise customers rely on Silence’s products, including notable names like BitGo, MetaMask, and EigenLayer. The startup generates revenue through its licensing model, with Dr. Prakash commenting on the growth of their customer base:
"We have seen significant traction in our customer acquisition, and our revenue has been growing steadily."
Funding and Future Plans
The recent funding round will support Silence Laboratories’ continued development of MPC infrastructure, expanding its offerings to address emerging security needs.
"With this latest investment, we plan to further enhance our multiparty computation technology, ensuring that our solutions remain cutting-edge in the face of evolving threats," said Dr. Prakash.
Silence Laboratories is poised to expand its presence in the rapidly growing market for secure data processing solutions.
