What AZTEC LABORATORIUM LIMITED does

Aztec Labs (legal entity: Spilsbury Holdings Limited) is a London-headquartered private limited company that builds privacy-preserving software using zero-knowledge cryptography, operating across consumer, developer, and institutional markets. The company's product portfolio centers on three offerings: (1) ZKPassport, a privacy-preserving identity verification product acquired in May 2026 from Obsidion that lets platforms verify age, nationality, sanctions compliance, and proof of humanity by reading NFC chips from passports and government IDs across 130+ countries and generating cryptographic proofs on the user's device so no personal data ever leaves it; (2) Aztec Network, a Layer 2 network on Ethereum with programmable privacy as a first-class citizen, where Aztec Labs contributes node software and developer tooling while the protocol itself is stewarded by the independent Aztec Foundation; and (3) Noir, a domain-specific Rust-inspired programming language for writing zero-knowledge circuits, originally developed by Aztec Labs with maintenance transferred to the Aztec Foundation in early 2026.

The company generates revenue through product licensing, API access, and enterprise agreements for ZKPassport verification services and developer tooling around the Aztec ecosystem, though no pricing tiers or revenue figures are publicly disclosed and the Terms of Service (updated September 2024) explicitly state the company is "currently developing various products." Go-to-market combines a community-led, open-source distribution motion (all software released under Apache 2.0 via GitHub, noir-lang.org, and zkpassport.id) with targeted enterprise field sales to platforms facing mandatory age/identity verification under regulations such as the UK's Online Safety Act, EU Digital Services Act, and US state laws. Customer segments span online platforms requiring compliance-driven age assurance, blockchain developers building privacy-preserving applications, financial institutions pursuing KYC/AML alternatives, and government/regulatory bodies setting digital identity standards — with the EU's eIDAS 2.0 Digital Identity Wallet project already incorporating Noir and ZKPassport circuits across a seven-member-state pilot.

The business is led by Founder & CEO Joe Andrews, a co-founder of the original Aztec Network, supported by an executive team drawn from OpenZeppelin, ShapeShift, Google, White & Case, and Brown Advisory. Aztec Labs has approximately 30-33 team members across engineering, security, product, design, operations, finance, and business development, with active hiring signaled through a dedicated in-house recruiter and Ashby careers page. Notable recent events include the May 2026 acquisition of Obsidion/ZKPassport and June 2026 exploits of deprecated Aztec Connect and Aztec 2.0 rollup contracts (~$2.2M drained) that did not affect any active products.

Name

AZTEC LABORATORIUM LIMITED

Legal name

Spilsbury Holdings Limited

Website

https://aztec-labs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Aztec Labs is a London-based private company building privacy-preserving zero-knowledge cryptography products — ZKPassport for identity verification, Aztec Network (Ethereum L2) tooling, and the Noir ZK programming language — serving platforms needing compliance-driven age/identity verification, blockchain developers, financial institutions, and government digital identity programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Blockchain Privacy Infrastructure

NAICS

Lessors of Nonfinancial Intangible Assets (except Copyrighted Works) (53311)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Asset Risk, Security & Audit Tooling (Smart Contract Audit, Threat Monitoring) (FSAGAMAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Privacy, Data Protection & Compliance (zk compliance, GDPR/PII handling) (FSAPAJAM)

Keywords

• Zero-knowledge proofs
• Blockchain privacy
• Identity verification
• Layer 2 network
• Developer tooling

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Privacy Products Licensing / SaaS: Aztec Labs generates revenue by shipping privacy-first products (ZKPassport, Aztec Network tools) that serve consumer, developer, and institutional markets. Revenue is implied to come from product licensing, API access, or enterprise agreements for ZKPassport verification services and developer tooling around the Aztec ecosystem.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Aztec Labs develops and ships privacy-first blockchain-based software products centered on zero-knowledge cryptography. Its portfolio includes ZKPassport, a privacy-preserving identity verification protocol that proves attributes such as age, nationality, and proof of humanity without transmitting personal data; Aztec Network, an Ethereum Layer-2 with programmable privacy and private state management; and Noir, a Rust-inspired domain-specific language for authoring zero-knowledge circuits.

Product overview

Aztec Labs is a standalone product company that ships privacy-first products for the Aztec ecosystem. The product portfolio centers on three offerings: (1) ZKPassport — a privacy-preserving identity verification product that lets companies verify age, nationality, and bot detection without data custody, generating cryptographic zero-knowledge proofs on users' own devices; (2) Aztec Network — a Layer 2 network on Ethereum with programmable privacy, where Aztec Labs contributes node software and developer tooling while the network is stewarded by the Aztec Foundation; and (3) Noir — a domain-specific language for zero-knowledge proofs with Rust-inspired syntax, originally developed by Aztec Labs and now maintained by the Aztec Foundation with continued contributions from Aztec Labs. The company also leverages its expertise in zero-knowledge cryptography to develop products across consumer, developer, and institutional markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ZKPassport: Zero-knowledge proof-based identity verification product allowing users to prove age, nationality, and humanity without uploading personal data to any central server. Reads NFC chips in passports and government IDs from 130+ countries.
• Noir

Products and services

• ZKPassport Privacy-preserving identity verification product that lets companies verify ages, run sanctions checks, confirm user eligibility, and detect bots without ever touching or custodying users' underlying personal data. Users prove what's needed on their own device and verifiers can confirm the proof without taking on data custody risk. Proofs are verifiable on Aztec Network, Ethereum, and any EVM chain.
• Aztec Network Layer 2 network on Ethereum with programmable privacy as a first-class citizen, enabling developers to build smart contracts with programmable privacy, private state management, and hybrid public/private execution. Aztec Labs contributes through node software and developer tooling; the network is stewarded by the Aztec Foundation.
• Noir Domain-specific programming language for zero-knowledge proofs, designed to make writing ZK circuits accessible to any developer with a Rust-inspired syntax and powerful standard library. Originally developed by Aztec Labs; ongoing maintenance transferred to the Aztec Foundation in early 2026 with continued contributions from Aztec Labs. Licensed under Apache License 2.0.

Quantifiable outcome

• 17,000+ participants used ZKPassport during the Aztec Network token sale for nationality and sanctions verification
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and flagship.

• Groom LakeminorOthers · 1 June 2026Aztec Labs engaged Groom Lake as their incident response provider following the June 2026 security incidents affecting deprecated Aztec rollup contracts. Groom Lake is assisting in blocking extracted funds across exchanges.
• Obsidion (ZKPassport team)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Aztec Labs acquired Obsidion, the team behind ZKPassport, in May 2026. Michael Elliot and Theo Madzou, co-founders of Obsidion, join Aztec Labs along with their team. They continue building ZKPassport while expanding into new consumer product territory. Aztec Labs is committed to keeping both the ZKPassport protocol and iOS app open source.
• Aztec FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Aztec Foundation is an independent entity that stewards the Aztec Network. Co-founders Zac Williamson and Joe Andrews originally built Aztec; co-founders moved to the Aztec Foundation to focus on stewarding the network, while Joe Andrews returned to build Aztec Labs. Aztec Labs and Aztec Foundation are distinct, independent entities. Aztec Labs led Noir development until early 2026 when maintenance was transferred to the Aztec Foundation.
• European Union (EUDI Wallet project)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026The European Union Digital Identity Wallet project (eIDAS 2.0), currently in pilot with seven member states, includes an age verification component built using Noir (originally by Aztec Labs) and open-source circuits from ZKPassport's library. All 27 EU member states are due to offer EUDI Wallets by end of 2026. Aztec Labs is the primary contributor to this open-source technology but this is adoption of open-source rather than a formal commercial partnership.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Market position

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/AztecProtocol

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles34 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

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