A small London-based quantum security start-up, founded in 2014, that builds quantum random number generators and chips to make connected devices and data centres more secure.
Crypta Labs makes quantum random number generators, or QRNGs. Good encryption needs numbers that nobody can predict, and the quantum behaviour of light can provide them. Crypta Labs describes itself as providing secure solutions through quantum-based encryption chips and software to secure the Internet of Things. Its technology began with a patented method that uses a diffuser and a camera to capture photons as a source of randomness. Its hardware includes the Quantum Optics Module, first built in 2021, a 1U rack-mounted QRNG appliance for data centres and a USB quantum hardware security module that creates random numbers and quantum-seeded keys.
The company was founded in 2014 by Dr Jose Coello. One profile names Jon Maliepaard, an early-stage investor who has founded and sold an internet service provider, as chief executive, though the roles may have changed since. We found no formal mission statement. The profile says the company aims to bring quantum random number technology to a global market in small, affordable, easy-to-integrate products. It is also developing a service that delivers quantum random numbers over secure online connections.
Crypta Labs is based in London. A company profile lists a team of two to ten people, so this is a very small business. One of its projects put its QRNG into a low Earth orbit experiment funded by the UK Space Agency and UKRI, showing that it also works on space applications. It has received backing through Innovate UK, the UK's innovation agency. We found no evidence of other UK offices.
We found no first-hand description of the culture. A team this small usually means everyone does several jobs: designing and testing hardware, writing software, talking to customers and applying for projects. That can be a good place to learn quickly, but it is a different experience from a large employer, and the profile does not tell us what working there is actually like.
Roles in a company like this include optical and electronics engineers, embedded software developers, cryptographers and security engineers, and business development staff. Physics, electronics, computer science and maths are the natural subjects. The company's own website is the place to check what it is doing now, since the sources we read are third-party profiles of different ages.
Website: www.cryptalabs.com
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