Security is an important aspect of all of our lives. Quantum technologies promise when it comes down to increased security and new paradigms for secure communication. A company in the British Isles has recently announced funding of £2m to enable secure encryption.
“Despite multiple wide-reaching security failures, there is this widespread belief that current random number generators are good enough. This is because, so far, it’s difficult to prove or quantify the security advantages of quantum random number generators. Quantum Dice’s patented technology is here to change that, aiming to make quantum security accessible to all encryption applications.”
Dr Ramy Shelbaya, CEO and co-founder of
Quantum Dice.
Quantum Dice aims to secure a connected future by leveraging integrated photonics technology to develop the
world’s first compact and continuously self-certifying quantum random number generator (QRNG) for encryption and cybersecurity. Who would have thought random numbers are such a big problem? But indeed they are, and all our secure technologies require generating random numbers, whether security or pehaps even simulation.
Current attempts to improve the security of random number generators rely on components that are either
expensive, difficult to integrate or, more often than not, both. Using manufacturing-friendly optical circuits,
Quantum Dice aims to directly address these shortcomings with its patented source-device independent self certification (DISC) protocol. DISC™ allows for live continuous verification of the security of the output numbers rather than simply relying on statistical analysis.
Founded recently in only April 2020, Quantum Dice is a spinout from the University of Oxford’s Department of Physics where the DISC protocol was originally developed in Oxford’s world-leading Quantum Optics research group headed by Prof. Ian Walmsley. This initial QRNG prototype was already breaking records with its extremely fast generation rate of 8.05 Gbps of quantum-secure randomness. Quantum Dice was co-founded by George Dunlop, Marko Mayr, Ramy Shelbaya, Zhanet Zaharieva and Wenmiao Yu, all from the winning team of the inaugural Student Entrepreneurs’ Programme (StEP) organised by Oxford Science Enterprises, the Oxford Foundry and Oxford University Innovation.
Recognising the potential value to cybersecurity that existed in the research done by the quantum optics group, the five co-founders set out a development and go-to-market plan which won them the competition leading to the birth of Quantum Dice.
Funding Randomness
Oxford University Spinout, Quantum Dice, announces the completion of its pre-seed fundraise, where a £1 million venture capital consortium was led by the notable venture capital fund, Elaia Partners, and includes IP Group plc, and the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund (UKI2S) managed by Midven, part of the Future Planet Capital group. A further £1 million of non-dilutive grant funding was secured from the Quantum Investment Accelerator run by IP Group plc in partnership with Innovate UK, the United Kingdom’s innovation agency.
“Quantum Dice’s new technology has the potential to transform information security. We’re pleased to be part of such an experienced group of investors joining the funding round, providing vital guidance and expertise to the founders. The certification project with UKI2S’s fund partner, the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) will be an important contribution to internationally recognised standards for this technology to drive adoption in our evermore global world.”
Andrew Muir, Investment Director & Fund Principle, UKI2S