937-203-0771 
In an era where data is a powerful commodity, securing it is more critical than ever. Niobium, a Dayton-based company, is at the forefront of protecting sensitive information through Zero Trust Computing solutions and privacy-enhancing technologies. By combining expertise in cryptography, silicon design, and full-stack software development, Niobium has developed the industry’s fastest fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) hardware accelerator, enabling companies to use their most sensitive data without compromising its security.
Fully homomorphic encryption is a breakthrough that allows data to remain encrypted while it’s being processed, eliminating the risk of exposing it to cyber threats. “FHE is the ability to compute on or process data without ever decrypting it,” explains Matt Farrell, COO at Niobium. “It’s been mathematically possible in software for the last decade or so, but the challenge has always been speed. It’s exponentially slower than in the clear (unencrypted) computation.”
Niobium has tackled this problem head-on, creating a purpose-built hardware accelerator that makes fully homomorphic encryption commercially viable for the first time. Traditionally, data is encrypted during storage and transit but must be decrypted during computation, leaving it vulnerable to breaches. “Even though data may spend only a fraction of a second ‘in the clear,’ that’s enough time for it to be copied, stolen, or compromised,” Matt adds.
Past attempts to secure data through methods like trusted execution environments (TEEs) have proven insufficient. “We must assume that if data is unencrypted at any point, it is compromised,” he stresses.
Niobium’s FHE technology offers a solution by keeping data encrypted at every stage—whether at rest, in transit, or during computation. This innovation has vast implications for industries that handle sensitive data, such as healthcare, finance, insurance, and blockchain. “The third party performing computations on encrypted data never gets to see the data itself,” Matt explains. “That’s the power of FHE: privacy without sacrificing the ability to process and analyze data.”
Niobium’s innovations are part of a broader vision to lead in Zero Trust Computing. The company is building a suite of products that go beyond FHE, enabling private and secure computation across a variety of use cases. “We see ourselves ensuring private computation of data, which means building architecture designs and capabilities for related technologies,” says Brad Levergood, Business Development Manager.
This forward-thinking approach positions Niobium as a key player in the development of truly secure, privacy-focused computing environments.
Their first product, the FHE hardware accelerator, has already demonstrated how secure computing can be both fast and effective. As privacy regulations tighten worldwide and industries demand better protection for sensitive data, Niobium’s solutions will play a crucial role in shaping the future of data security.
Niobium’s rapid development and success have been greatly supported by the Entrepreneurs’ Center (EC) in Dayton.
“The EC has a unique niche in helping companies like ours, who start with federal customers, transition to commercial markets,” Matt notes. The EC’s comprehensive support has allowed Niobium to focus on advancing their groundbreaking technology while navigating the complexities of entering new markets.
The resources brought to bear by the EC—whether it’s legal assistance, marketing, or intellectual property protection—have been instrumental,” Matt continues. “We’ve been able to invest our energy in the technology itself, not the administrative burden of the business.”
This partnership has been a crucial part of Niobium’s journey from a promising idea to a company delivering revolutionary privacy-preserving solutions.
About Niobium
Niobium is blazing a new path for the data economy by developing custom hardware solutions for Zero Trust Computing. Niobium is pioneering the first dedicated hardware capable of advancing fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) into commercial applications. This technology keeps data encrypted even during computation, enabling a new class of multi-party machine learning and statistical analysis applications with mathematically guaranteed privacy. Niobium is headquartered in Dayton, Ohio, and has offices in Columbus, Ohio, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco, California. For more information, visit niobiummicrosystems.com.
About Entrepreneurs’ Center
The Entrepreneurs’ Center (EC) drives economic growth and prosperity by championing entrepreneurship. With a mission to empower innovators, the EC annually collaborates with over 1,000 entrepreneurs, catalyzing the creation of businesses, job opportunities, revenue streams, and investments. Offering a suite of professional services, including business planning, mentoring, training, networking, commercialization, and capital investment, the EC serves as a beacon for both main street and technology enterprises. Anchored by a dedicated team of advisors, entrepreneurs-in-residence, and staff, the EC orchestrates world-class business acceleration programs in collaboration with corporations, academic institutions, and government entities, including the U.S. Department of Defense, from its headquarters at The Hub Powered by PNC Bank within the historic Dayton Arcade.
