ZeroRISC Closes $10 Million in Seed Funding Led by Fontinalis to Accelerate Commercial Adoption of Open-Source Silicon for Secure Devices
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ZeroRISC, a leading provider of silicon supply chain integrity solutions leveraging open-source silicon, today announced the close of its oversubscribed seed round with $10 million in new funding, led by Fontinalis Partners. Additional participants include Fundomo, Analog Devices co-founder Ray Stata, SemiAnalysis founder Dylan Patel, SBXi, Chelpis, Bond Street LLC, and existing angel investors.
'Once considered a niche idea, open-source silicon is becoming an inevitability with the adoption of implementations like OpenTitan by Google,' said Dominic Rizzo, CEO and Founder, ZerorRISC.
ZeroRISC CEO and founder Dominic Rizzo founded the OpenTitan project in 2019, the first open-source silicon root of trust (RoT) and the first ever open-source chip to reach widespread commercial availability. Since founding ZeroRISC in April 2023, Rizzo and his team have been pivotal in advancing a vision of secure, open silicon for all. The team successfully transitioned the project from development to commercialization in partnership with Nuvoton and the open-source ecosystem to drive its first commercial tapeout.
"ZeroRISC is executing on a classic Silicon Valley playbook - the founder of an open-source project launches a startup to bring the technology to a broader universe of enterprise customers," said Gabe Cunningham, Partner, Fontinalis. "Commercial open silicon can enable a new generation of secure-by-default devices."
ZeroRISC is expanding access to production-grade, OpenTitan-based designs suitable for every strata of the silicon supply chain from IoT to datacenters. Built for seamless integration into system-on-chips (SoCs), chiplets, and devices, its universal silicon security platform supports numerous applications. ZeroRISC's Integrity Management Platform (IMP) decouples device security from place of manufacture, scaling ownership and control with software rather than relying on physical possession. Device consumers can define security policies suited to their operational needs rather than relying on operating system developers or manufacturers to impose ill-fitting controls.
'Once considered a niche idea, open-source silicon is becoming an inevitability with the adoption of implementations like OpenTitan by Google,' said Rizzo. 'Leveraging open-source silicon means we can deliver 'big tech'-like device security to every segment of the silicon ecosystem. Moving away from unverifiable 'black boxes' and towards fully transparent and verifiable foundations unlocks a new paradigm, putting device owners back in control of their remotely connected devices without requiring physical diligence by hardware manufacturers. Instead, any trusted stakeholder in the supply chain can leverage ZeroRISC's software-based monitoring to build confidence and retain control.'
ZeroRISC's secure-by-design approach starts security as early as possible, during chip design and manufacturing with transparent OpenTitan-based implementations. This assurance-first approach ensures that security starts below the operating system, offering protection against the most sophisticated hardware and firmware attacks and more common software vulnerabilities. As regulators push liability to manufacturers and with annual cyber insurance premiums expected to reach $23 billion by 2026, ZeroRISC gives CISOs final authority over what software can run on their devices, preventing unauthorized actions. ZeroRISC forges immutable trust of hardware by software, securing the entire supply chain from the factory to in-field operation.
The company has attracted notable support from technology industry luminaries, including Analog Devices co-founder Ray Stata, who noted, 'ZeroRISC is making truly trustworthy supply chain security accessible to every organization and end customer, not just those with specialized hardware or significant budgets. This is a massive shift.'
'ZeroRISC will become a foundational requirement for future systems essential for combating AI deepfakes and similar threats by ensuring end-to-end attestation, from real sensor data capture to the verified AI model and prompt used to generate outputs,' said Rajeev Surati, Investor, Fundomo.
In February 2024, ZeroRISC introduced the first open-source chip built on the OpenTitan secure silicon design, produced commercially by Nuvoton Technology Corporation. This platform RoT marks a critical milestone in bringing trustworthy and secure open silicon to the global market. Based on strong interest from end users, OEMs, and SoC vendors, ZeroRISC is offering an early access program to express interest in the first silicon or future collaboration.
ZeroRISC is hiring. Explore open roles and learn more about ZeroRISC at: https://www.zerorisc.com/careers
About ZeroRISC
ZeroRISC is expanding security by empowering device owners and operators in crucial sectors like silicon production, IoT, and critical infrastructure with full device ownership, control, and visibility. With transparent and trustworthy OpenTitan-enabled designs, ZeroRISC's Integrity Management Platform affords customers the power to separate device security from place of manufacture by forging immutable trust of hardware by software. Headquartered in Boston, MA, ZeroRISC was founded by Dominic Rizzo, the OpenTitan project founder. The company is a leading project contributor, driving the commercialization of open-source silicon designs and device management software. For more information, visit https://zerorisc.com.
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