PQSecure
PQSecure Technologies designs and licenses post-quantum cryptography hardware IP cores and software libraries for FPGA, ASIC, and SoC integration, serving semiconductor OEMs, U.S. federal agencies, and defense programs requiring NIST FIPS 203/204/205-aligned cryptographic resilience for long-lifecycle embedded systems.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersBoca Raton, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What PQSecure does
PQSecure Technologies, LLC is a private post-quantum cryptography (PQC) IP company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, with a regional office in the Washington, D.C. area serving U.S. federal and defense customers. The company designs, develops, and licenses cryptographic hardware IP cores and software libraries that protect embedded systems, IoT endpoints, automotive ECUs, data center infrastructure, and government/defense systems against quantum computing threats. Its customer base spans U.S. federal agencies and defense programs, semiconductor OEMs (Microchip, Xilinx/AMD, Lattice Semiconductor, ARM), and critical infrastructure operators needing long-lifecycle (15–30+ year) cryptographic resilience aligned to NIST FIPS 203/204/205 and the OMB M-26-15 federal PQC migration deadlines (December 31, 2030 for key establishment; December 31, 2031 for digital signatures).
The product portfolio is organized around five pillars: PQSecure-HW (synthesis-ready RTL cryptographic IP cores for FPGA, ASIC, and SoC integration with integrated side-channel countermeasures covering ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA, FN-DSA, XMSS, LMS, ECC, RSA, AES, SHA-2/3, ASCON, and TRNG); PQSecure-SW (production-grade, formally verified C and Rust software libraries with constant-time implementations targeting ARM Cortex-M/A, RISC-V, and x86-64); PQSecure-TRUST (memory-safe Rust implementation with no unsafe blocks in the cryptographic core, verified via Kani/CBMC); PQSecure-Boot (quantum-safe secure boot occupying <5KB RAM or <35 kGE with fault-injection resistance); and PQSecure-Agility (HW/SW co-design framework enabling runtime algorithm switching and OTA firmware updates), plus the QSAFE suite for hybrid pre-/post-quantum migration. PQSecure holds 27+ issued and pending U.S. and international patents and has achieved NIST CAVP validation across multiple product lines in 2025–2026.
The company monetizes through hardware IP licensing (multi-year enterprise contracts with per-deployment royalties), software library licensing (C and Rust libraries for embedded targets), professional services for PQC migration and quantum cryptanalysis, and government grant funding. Disclosed non-dilutive capital includes NSF SBIR Phase I ($225,000, December 2017), NSF SBIR Phase II ($948,040, September 2019), and a DARPA Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative grant (September 2022), with continued participation in the DARPA AISS program alongside Galois and Riscure. Distribution combines direct enterprise sales to government and defense procurement, OEM embedding through partnerships with major semiconductor and EDA ecosystem players (ARM, Microchip, Xilinx/AMD, Lattice, Menta, Flex Logix, Siemens Catapult, Codasip, AndesTech CoPilot), and research collaboration with George Mason University and Florida Atlantic University. Sales is led by founder and CEO Dr. Reza Azarderakhsh, supported by cryptography veteran Mike Borza who joined in February 2026.
PQSecure firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PQSecure
- Legal name
- PQSecure Technologies, LLC
- Website
- https://pqsecurity.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- PQSecure Technologies designs and licenses post-quantum cryptography hardware IP cores and software libraries for FPGA, ASIC, and SoC integration, serving semiconductor OEMs, U.S. federal agencies, and defense programs requiring NIST FIPS 203/204/205-aligned cryptographic resilience for long-lifecycle embedded systems.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
PQSecure industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Post-Quantum Cryptography
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design Services (541512), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Quantum-Safe Cryptographic Algorithms & Protocols (PQC) (HDAGAGAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Quantum-Safe Hardware & Embedded Security (TPM/secure elements/firmware) (HDAGAGAJ), PQC Migration, Readiness Assessment & Crypto-Agility (HDAGAGAD), Quantum Cryptography Integration & Interoperability (Standards/APIs/Testbeds) (HDAGAGAK)
Keywords
Where PQSecure is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boca Raton
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
PQSecure business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Hardware IP Licensing: Synthesis-ready RTL cryptographic IP cores licensed to semiconductor companies for integration into ASICs, FPGAs, and SoCs. Revenue generated through licensing fees and royalties for deployment in silicon products.
- Software Library Licensing: Production-grade, formally verified C and Rust cryptographic libraries licensed to embedded systems manufacturers, defense contractors, and semiconductor companies for deployment in firmware and secure boot applications.
- Professional Services and Integration: Technical consulting, integration support, and validation services for government agencies, defense programs, and semiconductor companies migrating to post-quantum cryptography.
- DARPA and Government Grants: Funding received through DARPA Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative (EEI) grant to accelerate commercialization of quantum-safe technologies for national security applications.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Enterprise IP licensing - Custom quote-based pricing |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels12 records
PQSecure product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PQSecure designs, licenses, and supports post-quantum cryptographic solutions for embedded systems and silicon products. Its core offerings include silicon-ready hardware IP cores (PQSecure-HW) for FPGA, ASIC, and SoC integration, production-grade software libraries in C, Rust, and assembly (PQSecure-SW, PQSecure-TRUST), a quantum-safe secure boot product family (PQSecure-Boot), and a hardware/software co-design framework (PQSecure-HW/SW Co-Design / PQSecure-Agility) — all supporting NIST-standardized PQC algorithms with integrated side-channel protections.
Product overview
PQSecure offers a unified post-quantum cryptography portfolio combining hardware IP and software libraries. The core offering consists of PQSecure-HW (hardware IP for FPGA/ASIC/SoC implementations) and PQSecure-SW (software libraries including libpqsecure-C, libpqsecure-rs, and libpqsecure-asm), which can be deployed independently or together via the PQSecure-HW/SW Co-Design service for optimized hardware/software co-design. Additional products include PQSecure-Boot for post-quantum secure boot and PQSecure-TRUST as a memory-safe Rust component. The portfolio is complemented by expert services for quantum cryptanalysis and side-channel protection.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PQSecure-SW: High-assurance post-quantum cryptography software including libpqsecure-C, libpqsecure-rs (PQSecure-TRUST), and libpqsecure-asm
- PQSecure-HW
- PQSecure-HW/SW Co-Design
- PQSecure-TRUST
- PQSecure-Boot
- PQSecure-CRYSTALS
- QSAFE
- PQSecure-Agility
Products and services
- PQSecure-HW High-assurance, side-channel-protected cryptographic hardware IP cores for FPGA, ASIC, and SoC integration, supporting ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA, FN-DSA, XMSS, LMS, ECC, RSA, AES, SHA-2/3, ASCON, and TRNG with integrated DPA, CPA, masking, shuffling, and fault-injection protections. Sold to semiconductor companies and system-on-chip designers for embedding into silicon products.
- PQSecure-SW Production-grade, formally verified post-quantum cryptography software libraries available in C (libpqsecure-C), Rust (libpqsecure-rs), and assembly-optimized (libpqsecure-asm) variants, with constant-time implementations, stack-optimized routines, and NIST CAVP validation. Sold to embedded systems manufacturers, defense contractors, and semiconductor companies for deployment in firmware and secure boot applications.
- PQSecure-Boot Quantum-safe secure boot product family supporting ML-DSA, LMS, and SLH-DSA with ultra-low footprint (under 5KB RAM for the software variant, under 35 kGE for the hardware variant in 65nm operating above 500 MHz), fault injection resistance, and formal verification. Sold to embedded systems manufacturers and silicon designers for constrained Root-of-Trust environments.
- PQSecure-TRUST Memory-safe pure Rust implementation of post-quantum cryptography (libpqsecure-rs) with no unsafe blocks in the cryptographic core, no_std support for embedded targets, formal verification using Kani (CBMC backend), strict constant-time execution, and NIST CAVP/ACVP certification. Sold to developers and embedded systems manufacturers that require a memory-safe PQC library.
- PQSecure-HW/SW Co-Design Hardware/software co-design methodology and framework (also branded PQSecure-Agility) that jointly optimizes cryptographic architectures across hardware and software layers for performance, security, area efficiency, power, and crypto-agility with dual-era support for classical and post-quantum primitives. Sold to semiconductor companies, embedded systems manufacturers, and defense programs.
- Quantum Cryptanalysis Services Expert consulting services that analyze and evaluate cryptographic implementations against quantum computing threats, including algorithm migration planning and vulnerability assessment. Sold to government agencies, defense contractors, and organizations preparing for post-quantum cryptographic migration.
- Side-Channel Protection Services Consulting services focused on protecting cryptographic implementations from side-channel attacks, including power analysis, electromagnetic analysis, and timing attacks. Sold to semiconductor companies, embedded systems manufacturers, and security-critical product teams.
Quantifiable outcome
- libpqsecure shows >15% lower latency across ML-KEM key generation, encapsulation, and decapsulation compared to OpenSSL 3.5.0 on Apple M1 @ 3.2 GHz
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use PQSecure
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
PQSecure technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature6 records
PQSecure partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- George Mason University (GMU)coreCollaborated on landmark peer-reviewed research publication 'Lightweight Champions of the World: Side-Channel Resistant Open Hardware for Finalists in the NIST Lightweight Cryptography Standardization Process' published in ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems. Also developed novel tools for evaluating and protecting cryptographic implementations against side-channel attacks published in Journal of Cryptographic Engineering (FOBOS 3 platform).
- NIST NCCoE (National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence)coreJoined NIST NCCoE PQC Consortium as Technology Partner through Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA). Collaborating with NIST and other technology partners to support project 'Crypto Agility: Considerations for Migrating to Post-Quantum Cryptographic Algorithms' to build practical solutions for transitioning cryptographic infrastructures.
- MentacoreCollaboration bringing PQSecure's post-quantum cryptographic IP (ML-KEM and ML-DSA) to Menta's flexible eFPGA platforms. Implementations include side-channel protections and customizable performance profiles making them ideal for ASIC and SoC designs requiring crypto agility. Demonstrated HW/SW co-design with eFPGA achieving 25% die area reduction.
- PKI ConsortiumminorMember of Public Key Infrastructure Consortium collaborating with organizations shaping the future of secure digital infrastructure and advancing post-quantum crypto solutions.
- Florida Atlantic University (FAU)coreResearch collaboration led by CEO Dr. Reza Azarderakhsh with FAU graduate students. Successfully demonstrated Correlation Power Analysis (CPA) side-channel attack on industry-grade hardware implementation of ML-DSA within Caliptra Silicon Root of Trust, marking one of first documented side-channel attacks on post-quantum cryptographic root of trust.
- DARPA (Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon - AISS)corePQSecure contributes to DARPA AISS project united with experts from Galois, Riscure, and other strategic partners to develop methodologies and solutions for quantum-resistant and physically secure chip design. PQSecure developing highly efficient hardware IPs for side-channel protected classical and quantum-resistant cryptography.
- NORDTECH (Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub)minorIndustry partnership with NORDTECH to advance quantum-safe cryptographic IP development capabilities for CHIPS, IoT, and Edge applications in the defense technology ecosystem.
- MITRE / Post-Quantum Cryptography Coalition (PQCC)corePQSecure participates in the PQC Coalition directed by MITRE to promote adoption of post-quantum cryptography in commercial and open-source technologies. Supports working groups on Standards, Education, Implementation, and Cryptographic Inventory and Agility. PQSecure featured as speaker at the October 2025 Post-Quantum Cryptography Forum at MITRE headquarters alongside IBM, Arqit, and Chelpis Quantum.
- Galois Inc.corePartnership to develop formal specifications for PQC algorithms approved by NSA for CNSA 2.0 and NIST. Galois formally specified post-quantum algorithms recommended for Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite. Both companies contribute to DARPA AISS (Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon) project.
- QED-C (Quantum Economic Development Consortium)minorMember of Quantum Economic Development Consortium advancing quantum applications and technologies across commercial and government sectors.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
PQSecure competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- wolfSSL: wolfSSL provides the widely used wolfCrypt embedded TLS/crypto library, including post-quantum algorithm support, competing with PQSecure's PQSecure-SW library offering for embedded and IoT software integration.
- Arqit Quantum: Arqit develops quantum-safe network encryption solutions (QuantumCloud) for enterprise and government, overlapping thematically with PQSecure's crypto-agility focus but with a network/transport-layer emphasis rather than embedded hardware IP.
- Chelpis Quantum: Chelpis Quantum is an emerging PQC chip designer featured alongside PQSecure at the MITRE PQCC PQC Forum, developing quantum-resistant cryptographic hardware for similar defense and commercial applications.
Direct peers
- PQShield: PQShield is a closely comparable post-quantum cryptography IP and software company providing hardware and software PQC solutions for embedded systems, IoT, and semiconductor customers — competing head-to-head with PQSecure for the same OEM design slots.
- Xiphera: Xiphera provides cryptographic IP cores for FPGAs and ASICs, including post-quantum algorithms, with a comparable focus on small-footprint, high-assurance implementations for embedded security applications.
- ISARA Corporation: ISARA is a PQC security specialist offering crypto-agile quantum-safe solutions and integration services to enterprises and governments — directly comparable to PQSecure's HW/SW co-design and crypto-agility positioning.
- Crypto4A Technologies: Crypto4A builds quantum-safe hardware security modules and PQC-enabled secure computing platforms targeting enterprise and government customers — directly comparable to PQSecure's HW roots-of-trust and embedded security offerings.
Broad incumbents
- Synopsys (DesignWare Security IP): Synopsys is a dominant semiconductor IP vendor with a broad DesignWare portfolio including PQC crypto IP cores, competing with PQSecure for the same FPGA/ASIC/SoC design slots but as part of a much larger EDA/IP ecosystem.
- Rambus (Security IP Division): Rambus offers a portfolio of security IP cores including root-of-trust, hardware cryptography, and PQC-ready solutions, serving the same semiconductor OEMs as PQSecure but as part of a much broader IP and memory interface business.
- Cadence Design Systems: Cadence is a leading EDA and IP vendor whose security IP offerings include PQC-ready cryptographic cores, competing with PQSecure in semiconductor OEM design wins as part of a vast IP and design tools portfolio.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
PQSecure social profiles
Digital presencePQSecure compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance8 records
PQSecure financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PQSecure leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
PQSecure funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PQSecure 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 PQSecure
What does PQSecure do?
PQSecure designs, licenses, and supports post-quantum cryptographic solutions for embedded systems and silicon products. Its core offerings include silicon-ready hardware IP cores (PQSecure-HW) for FPGA, ASIC, and SoC integration, production-grade software libraries in C, Rust, and assembly (PQSecure-SW, PQSecure-TRUST), a quantum-safe secure boot product family (PQSecure-Boot), and a hardware/software co-design framework (PQSecure-HW/SW Co-Design / PQSecure-Agility) — all supporting NIST-standardized PQC algorithms with integrated side-channel protections.
Is PQSecure a public or private company?
PQSecure is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was PQSecure founded?
PQSecure was founded in 2017. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is PQSecure based?
PQSecure is headquartered in Boca Raton, United States, in the North America region.
How does PQSecure make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Hardware IP Licensing is the primary driver. The others are software Library Licensing, professional Services and Integration and DARPA and Government Grants.
Who are PQSecure's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are wolfSSL, Arqit Quantum and Chelpis Quantum. Direct peers are PQShield, Xiphera, ISARA Corporation and Crypto4A Technologies. Broad incumbents are Synopsys (DesignWare Security IP), Rambus (Security IP Division) and Cadence Design Systems.
Does PQSecure have an API?
No public API is recorded for PQSecure.
What industry is PQSecure in?
PQSecure's product category is Post-Quantum Cryptography. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAGAGAC, Quantum-Safe Cryptographic Algorithms & Protocols (PQC), with a secondary code of HDAGAGAJ, Quantum-Safe Hardware & Embedded Security (TPM/secure elements/firmware). Its NAICS code is 541512 and its SIC code is 7373.