New KU Leuven spin-off Belfort enables secure real-time processing of encrypted data

Belfort has launched a hardware accelerator for encrypted compute. This innovation makes it possible to compute directly on encrypted data without ever decrypting it, ensuring both security and privacy. The spin-off, founded out of the cryptographic expertise of KU Leuven's COSIC research group, has raised €5 million in seed funding.

When data security fails, the consequences can be severe. In July, it was revealed that a breach at the UK Ministry of Defence exposed the personal data of nearly 19,000 Afghan nationals and intelligence personnel, prompting a £7 billion emergency response. Such incidents highlight the urgent need to protect data not only in storage but also during processing - a challenge Belfort, KU Leuven's newest spin-off, aims to solve.

Belfort's hardware accelerator, the world's first purpose-built for encrypted compute, makes it possible to compute directly on encrypted data without ever decrypting it. This prevents exposure to servers, cloud providers, or intermediaries with privileged access. For the first time, encrypted compute becomes practical for real-world use cases such as fraud detection, genomic analysis, and secure government operations.

"AI is transforming everything, but the infrastructure to keep sensitive data and models secure hasn't caught up," says Michiel Van Beirendonck, co-founder and CEO of Belfort. "Encrypted compute is the answer, but without hardware acceleration, it doesn't scale. The company that cracks that challenge could become the next billion-dollar company."

Decades of research

Belfort builds on decades of world-leading cryptographic research by COSIC ('Computer Security and Industrial Cryptography') at KU Leuven. The group of Professor Ingrid Verbauwhede, a global authority in cryptographic hardware and two-time ERC grant laureate, laid the foundations of Belfort's core technology. The research matured through several grants and projects including a European Research Council (ERC) grant and participation in a competitive U.S. government contract with DARPA.

For decades, we've explored how to make computation secure by design. With Belfort, we're finally bringing those ideas into practice.

"For decades, we've explored how to make computation secure by design. With Belfort, we're finally bringing those ideas into practice", says KU Leuven Professor Ingrid Verbauwhede, Belfort co-founder and Head Scientist. "For the first time, we see cryptographic theory translate so directly into usable, real-time systems. It's a game-changer for anyone who needs to protect sensitive data."

The technological breakthroughs behind Belfort were developed by CEO Michiel Van Beirendonck and Head of Engineering Furkan Turan. They are joined by COO Laurens De Poorter, former deeptech strategist at Google[x].