Ingonyama
Ingonyama builds ICICLE, an open-source GPU-accelerated cryptography library that speeds up zero-knowledge proof generation across multiple hardware backends, serving ZK protocol teams, framework maintainers, and enterprises integrating ZK proving.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersPetah Tiqva, Israel
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Ingonyama does
Ingonyama builds ICICLE, an open-source GPU-accelerated cryptography library that reduces zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) computation time by exploiting the fact that roughly 97% of ZK protocol runtime is naturally parallel. ICICLE implements core cryptographic primitives — Multi-Scalar Multiplication (MSM), Number Theoretic Transform (NTT), elliptic curve operations, Poseidon hash, ECNTT, Merkle Tree, and a Polynomial API — as CUDA kernels wrapped behind a backend-agnostic API that also runs on CPU, Metal (Apple Silicon), WebGPU, Vulkan, and a proprietary ZPU backend. Native bindings are provided for C++, Rust, and Golang, enabling ZK circuit developers without GPU expertise to integrate accelerated proving. The product portfolio also includes ICICLE-SNARK (a Groth16 prover), ICICLE-Halo2, ICICLE-Stwo (STARK prover), IMP1 (a mobile proving framework for iOS and Android), and ZKContainer (a Docker-based deployment layer for multi-GPU and data-center-scale proving). ICICLE is integrated as the GPU backend in leading ZK frameworks including Consensys Gnark, Halo2 (zkonduit fork), zkWASM/Dephinus Labs, Plonky3, EZKL, and Celer Network.
Ingonyama monetizes through a hybrid open-source-plus-services model. The ICICLE library is free on GitHub and free to use via Google Colab with a free NVIDIA T4 GPU tier; community adoption is supported through a $100,000 research grants program, a free 12-lesson Foundations of High-Speed Cryptography course, and the ZK Accelerate event series. Commercial revenue is derived from enterprise licensing, commercial support contracts, and professional services for ZK prover integration and custom proving system development. Customers are primarily ZK protocol teams and infrastructure builders (Fermah, Brevis, Zircuit, Kroma Network, Zerobase, EigenDA, Dephinus Labs, Starknet) plus enterprise framework maintainers (Consensys) and foundations (World Foundation). The company is headquartered in Petah Tiqva, Israel, operates as Ingonyama, Inc. (Delaware), and is venture-backed following a $21 million seed round closed in January 2024 led by IOSG Ventures, Geometry, and Walden Catalyst Ventures, with Samsung NEXT, StarkWare Industries, Sentinel Global, and BlueYard Capital participating.
Ingonyama firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ingonyama
- Legal name
- Ingonyama, Inc.
- Website
- https://ingonyama.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Ingonyama builds ICICLE, an open-source GPU-accelerated cryptography library that speeds up zero-knowledge proof generation across multiple hardware backends, serving ZK protocol teams, framework maintainers, and enterprises integrating ZK proving.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ingonyama industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cryptography Software / Zero-Knowledge Proof Acceleration
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Smart Contract Execution Environments (EVM/WASM, runtimes, precompiles) (FSAPABAA)
Keywords
Where Ingonyama is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Petah Tiqva
- HQ country
- Israel
- HQ region
- Middle East
Markets served
Ingonyama business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Open-source software (free tier): ICICLE is open-source and freely available on GitHub. Developers can download, use, and contribute without charge. Ingonyama derives ecosystem value through community adoption, integrations, and researcher engagement.
- Enterprise licensing and commercial support: Ingonyama offers commercial licensing of ICICLE and intellectual property for enterprise and protocol clients requiring dedicated support, SLAs, or custom integrations. Revenue derived from licensing fees and support contracts.
- Professional services and consulting: The company provides consulting for ZK prover integration, hardware deployment, and custom proving system development. Services are delivered alongside or independently of software licensing.
- GPU access grants: Ingonyama's research grant program provides GPU access and funding to researchers and developers building with ICICLE. This supports ecosystem growth and generates goodwill while identifying talent for commercial engagements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Open-source — free for all users |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels13 records
Ingonyama product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ingonyama develops ICICLE, an open-source GPU-accelerated cryptography library that delivers high-performance implementations of zero-knowledge proof primitives (MSM, NTT, Poseidon, ECNTT, elliptic curve operations) across multiple compute backends (CUDA, CPU, Metal, WebGPU, Vulkan, ZPU) with bindings for C++, Rust, and Go. The company sells commercial licensing, professional services, and dedicated support to enterprise and protocol clients building ZK circuits and infrastructure, while offering the core library free to individual developers.
Product overview
Ingonyama offers a unified portfolio of zero-knowledge proof acceleration products centered on ICICLE, their flagship cryptography library. The core ICICLE library accelerates ZKP computations across multiple hardware backends (GPU, CPU, Metal, specialized hardware) with language support for C++, Rust, and Go. IMP1 extends this capability to mobile devices, while ICICLE-SNARK, ICICLE-Stwo, and ICICLE-Halo2 provide specialized prover implementations for different ZK protocols. ZKContainer provides deployment infrastructure for enterprise-scale proving operations. The portfolio also includes educational resources like the Foundations of High-Speed Cryptography course.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ICICLE: Cutting-edge cryptography library designed to accelerate algorithms and protocols, starting with Zero-knowledge proofs, across diverse compute backends including CPUs, GPUs, Apple Silicon, ZPU and more
- IMP1
- ZKContainer
- ICICLE-SNARK
- ZPU
Products and services
- ICICLE Flagship open-source cryptography library that accelerates zero-knowledge proof algorithms and protocols across diverse compute backends including GPUs, CPUs, Apple Silicon, and specialized hardware. Supports C++, Rust, and Go language bindings.
- IMP1 Mobile-first proving framework built on ICICLE-SNARK that delivers privacy-preserving zero-knowledge proofs to iOS and Android devices, up to 3x faster than RapidSnark. Lightweight, open-source, optimized for client-side performance.
- ZKContainer Standardized, optimized, and secure Docker containers configured for ICICLE applications that enable deployment on single machines or distributed across thousands of GPU machines in data centers with multi-GPU support.
- ICICLE-SNARK End-to-end Groth16 prover powered by ICICLE, described by Ingonyama as the fastest Groth16 implementation in the world, delivering GPU-accelerated zero-knowledge proof generation.
- ICICLE-Stwo GPU-accelerated Stwo prover built on ICICLE for faster proof generation in STARK-based proof systems.
- ICICLE-Halo2 Halo2 ZK framework integration with ICICLE for GPU acceleration, allowing existing Halo2 circuits to run on GPU without architectural changes via an icicle_gpu feature flag.
Quantifiable outcome
- MSM operations 8–10x faster, NTT 3–5x faster, total Circom proof generation 4x faster (Kroma Network case study)
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Ingonyama
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Ingonyama technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
AI capability2 records
Feature12 records
Ingonyama partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered strategic and core.
- CornamistrategicIngonyama and Cornami announced a strategic collaboration in May 2025 to accelerate high-speed cryptography, combining Cornami's trusted computing platform with Ingonyama's ICICLE acceleration technology.
- Consensys GnarkcoreGnark officially supports ICICLE GPU acceleration via a backend toggle. Circuit developers can enable GPU proving with a single flag change (WithIcicleAcceleration). Ingonyama collaborated on the integration, which has been merged to Gnark master branch.
- Halo2 (zkonduit fork)coreIngonyama integrated ICICLE into the Halo2 fork maintained by zkonduit, enabling GPU acceleration via an 'icicle_gpu' feature flag. The integration allows existing Halo2 circuits to run on GPU without architectural changes.
- EigenDAstrategicEigenDA uses ICICLE to improve data availability bandwidth, utilizing GPUs to parallelize encoding for their data availability layer.
- zkWASM / Dephinus LabscoreDephinus Labs integrated ICICLE into ZKWASM Hub to meet the growing need for a faster, commercially-ready prover. ICICLE's multi-platform library fit cloud integration demands for cost and time optimization.
- StarknetstrategicIngonyama announced a strategic partnership with Starknet in August 2024 to advance ZK proving infrastructure for the Starknet ecosystem.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Ingonyama competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Cysic: Cysic builds hardware-accelerated ZK proving infrastructure combining GPU and ASIC silicon. Directly comparable to Ingonyama as a specialized ZK acceleration provider targeting the same protocol and protocol-team buyers with overlapping primitive sets (MSM, NTT).
- Supranational: Supranational provides GPU-accelerated cryptographic primitives and proof generation services for SNARKs and other zero-knowledge systems. Directly comparable to Ingonyama on GPU optimization primitives (MSM, NTT) and enterprise ZK acceleration customers.
- Ulvetanna: Ulvetanna develops high-performance cryptography with a focus on ZK proving speedups. Directly comparable to Ingonyama as a specialist in accelerating the underlying primitives (MSM, NTT) that power ZK rollups and protocols.
Broad incumbents
- StarkWare: StarkWare builds the Starknet ZK L2 and STARK proof systems, and is developing its own ZPU (Zero-knowledge Processing Unit) hardware. Overlaps with Ingonyama's mission on ZK proving acceleration and is an investor and partner, but operates as a much broader L2 platform rather than a pure infrastructure layer.
- Risc Zero: Risc Zero builds a general-purpose zkVM and ZK proof network. Comparable to Ingonyama on the ZK proving infrastructure layer, but operates as a full zkVM platform rather than a primitive-level acceleration library; consumes GPU proving as one input.
- Polygon: Polygon operates Polygon zkEVM and Polygon Miden, both ZK-based L2s. Comparable to Ingonyama as a major ZK rollup buyer/builder with the resources to build or acquire in-house GPU acceleration; broader L2 platform rather than an acceleration specialist.
- Aleo: Aleo is a ZK-based privacy L1 that requires high-performance proof generation at scale. Comparable to Ingonyama as a buyer of ZK acceleration with overlapping performance needs, but operates as a full blockchain platform rather than an acceleration layer.
Others
- Consensys (Gnark): Consensys maintains Gnark, the leading open-source ZK framework that has officially integrated ICICLE as its GPU acceleration backend. Comparable as the framework distribution channel Ingonyama depends on; Gnark could theoretically build first-party acceleration, representing both partner and competitive risk.
Emerging players
- EZKL: EZKL is an open-source library for ZK machine learning using Halo2, and has integrated ICICLE for GPU acceleration. Comparable to Ingonyama as a ZK proving framework with overlap in target customers and primitives, though focused on the ML inference niche.
- Snarkify: Snarkify provides ZK proof generation services and developer tooling. Comparable to Ingonyama on the ZK proving infrastructure layer and as a buyer of acceleration techniques, though Snarkify operates a managed-service model rather than an open-source library.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Ingonyama social profiles
Digital presenceIngonyama financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ingonyama leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Ingonyama funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors8 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ingonyama M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ingonyama
What does Ingonyama do?
Ingonyama develops ICICLE, an open-source GPU-accelerated cryptography library that delivers high-performance implementations of zero-knowledge proof primitives (MSM, NTT, Poseidon, ECNTT, elliptic curve operations) across multiple compute backends (CUDA, CPU, Metal, WebGPU, Vulkan, ZPU) with bindings for C++, Rust, and Go. The company sells commercial licensing, professional services, and dedicated support to enterprise and protocol clients building ZK circuits and infrastructure, while offering the core library free to individual developers.
Is Ingonyama a public or private company?
Ingonyama is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Ingonyama founded?
Ingonyama was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Ingonyama based?
Ingonyama is headquartered in Petah Tiqva, Israel, in the Middle East region.
How does Ingonyama make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Open-source software (free tier) is the primary driver. The others are enterprise licensing and commercial support, professional services and consulting and GPU access grants.
Who are Ingonyama's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Cysic, Supranational and Ulvetanna. Broad incumbents are StarkWare, Risc Zero, Polygon and Aleo. Consensys (Gnark) is listed as an others. Emerging players are EZKL and Snarkify.
Does Ingonyama have an API?
Yes. ICICLE is a versatile cryptography library with multiple language bindings. It provides a CUDA-based cryptography library implementing primitives such as EC operations, MSM, NTT, Poseidon hash and more on GPU. Language bindings available: C++, Rust, and Golang. The API allows developers to build ZK provers or other cryptographic applications, leveraging best available hardware. ICICLE Core compiles into a static library that can be linked with C++ projects or used through official wrappers. Developer documentation is at dev.ingonyama.com.
What industry is Ingonyama in?
Ingonyama's product category is Cryptography Software / Zero-Knowledge Proof Acceleration. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAPABAA, Smart Contract Execution Environments (EVM/WASM, runtimes, precompiles). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.