Matti Tommiska and Kimmo Järvinen had both worked together early 2002-2004 in the Signal Processing Laboratory at the Helsinki University of Technology. The duo hit of a great working relationship and after leaving the laboratory, kept in touch over the years.
One of their recurring discussion topics was the business potential of hardware based security. Matti and Kimmo realised that by joining forces, they could create something that was in scarce supply in the market. And in 2017, Xiphera was officially founded.
Combining the best of both men
Xiphera combines Matti’s and Kimmos’ expertise areas of digital electronics, cryptography, and target markets (defence, industrial automation, communications). Technically Xiphera’s current products are Intellectual Property (IP) cores which implement standardized security and cryptographic algorithms directly in digital logic, specifically in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).
For the layperson, this means that customers who design their own embedded systems can use Xiphera’s products (which are shipped as encrypted design files written in VHDL) to add security functionality to their end products, for example motor control, basestations and military gear.
The main advantages that customers get from Xiphera’s hardware-based security implementation are better performance, higher security level certification, longer lifetime, and cryptographic agility, which means that solutions can be updated at the right time to Post-Quantum Cryptography.
Exploring new markets
Xiphera currently employs three people plus plus one part-time plus one external consultant and is a part of Aalto Startup Center business incubator in Finland
Xiphera’s target markets are currently industrial automation, communications, and defence. Examples of possible end use cases are basestations, routers, motor control, robotics, critical infrastructure communications and military applications.
”Our ambition is to grow organically and profitably, explore other target markets, potentially enter into security module (HSM = Hardware Security Module) business, be on the leading edge of the inevitable transition to PQC (Post Quantum Cryptography) and become the world-recognized expert and leader in hardware-based security and cryptography”, Matti Tommiska, CEO and CO-Founder of Xiphera says.