JobsOhio Ventures was among the investors.
The money will speed the development of Niobium’s second-generation fully homomorphic encryption or “FHE” platforms and support its transition from prototype to production-ready silicon, the company said.
Fully homomorphic encryption is a form of encryption that can be performed on encrypted, secure data without first needing to achieve decryption, bypassing the need for unencrypted processing.
The tool can be used to analyse medical research data or financial transactions, for example, without weakening patient or customer privacy protections.
In July 2021, Galois Inc. announced the creation of Niobium as a spin-out, devoted to the creation of secure microelectronic systems.
Portland, Ore.-based Galois, which opened its first Dayton office in 2017, is known for its work in assuring software validation, having heavy-hitters such as Amazon and DARPA on its customer roster. Some of the company’s research has addressed performance, efficiency, and security concerns in microchip design. Nicrobium, based at 444 E. Second St. in downtown Dayton, was positioned to advance that work.
Niobium’s FHE hardware accelerator provides a “mathematical guarantee of data privacy,” the company said.
“The investment marks growing market conviction that FHE will play a foundational role in securing the data economy as AI, blockchain, and quantum computing reshape how organizations manage privacy and trust,” the business said in an announcement.
Data-intensive workloads and the emergence of quantum computing poses a “real threat” to existing encryption standards, the company said. FHE is meant to be a tool to address that.
The latest investment round includes returning investors Fusion Fund, Morgan Creek Capital, Rev1 Ventures, and the Ohio Innovation Fund.
But approximately 70% of the new capital comes from first-time investors, Niobium also said.
“This financing is a vote of confidence not only in our progress, but in the market readiness for a new compute paradigm,” said Kevin Yoder, CEO of Niobium. “The rise of AI, quantum computing, and distributed computing has expanded possibilities and risks in the data economy. Niobium is building the hardware foundation for the encrypted future, where privacy is mathematically guaranteed.”
“There is no encryption standard more secure than fully homomorphic encryption (FHE),” Matt Immerso, general partner at Blockchange, said in Niobium’s release. “Niobium’s team is building a foundational chip for the future of cryptographic infrastructure. It could make FHE truly performant, secure, and scalable.”
Kimberly Blakemore, who leads ADVentures and has joined Niobium as a board observer, said Niobium’s technology answers a growing demand for trustworthy AI infrastructure.
JobsOhio Ventures, linked to the state’s jobs creation arm, JobsOhio, sees promise in Niobium’s “role in strengthening America’s semiconductor innovation ecosystem,” the Dayton company said.
“Niobium exemplifies the kind of tech leadership we’re proud to support in Ohio,” said JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef. “We’re entering a new generation of AI, technology and manufacturing opportunities, and the investments we’re already making in these industries are setting the stage for innovation, collaboration and discovery to happen rapidly across our state.”
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