• Zama raised $57 million in Series B funding led by Pantera Capital and Blockchange Ventures, reaching a $1 billion valuation.
  • Zama’s protocol enables encrypted smart contracts on public blockchains using fully homomorphic encryption (FHE).

Zama, a French startup developing fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) for blockchain, has raised $57 million in Series B funding, propelling its valuation past $1 billion.

The round, led by Pantera Capital and Blockchange Ventures, cements Zama as the first company in the advanced encryption space to achieve unicorn status.

The funding coincides with the launch of Zama’s public testnet and its “confidential” blockchain protocol, designed to bring encrypted smart contracts and private decentralised applications to public chains.

Unlike tools like coin mixers, Zama’s solution enables secure, on-chain computation while keeping transaction data encrypted and the activity traceable.

A New Era for Encrypted Smart Contracts

Founded in 2020, Zama aims to deliver confidentiality without sacrificing transparency or auditability.

Its core technology, FHE, allows encrypted data to be processed without decryption, ensuring data privacy while maintaining verifiability on public ledgers.

CEO Rand Hindi explained: “FHE… allows you to recompute the state using the encrypted data. This means you have the same level of public verifiability, but without needing to see the actual data.”

The company is initially launching on Ethereum, with plans to expand to other EVM chains soon after. Integration with Solana is targeted for 2026, pending performance optimisation and audits.

A standout feature of Zama’s protocol is “programmable confidentiality,” which gives developers granular control over who can access encrypted on-chain data.

This flexibility allows projects to align privacy features with compliance needs, such as enabling users and compliance officers to access account balances without making them publicly visible.

With performance bottlenecks addressed by networks like Solana and Ethereum Layer-2s, Hindi believes Zama’s tech unlocks the final piece for scalable, private blockchain finance.

Edited by Annette George