Zama just made one of the biggest moves in France’s tech scene — raising $73 million in Series A funding to supercharge a technology that could redefine how we think about data privacy: fully homomorphic encryption (FHE).

If you’re in IT or cybersecurity, especially working with AI or blockchain, this is something to keep on your radar. Here’s why.

Zama is building tools around fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) — a powerful method that lets you process data without ever decrypting it. That means you can analyze, compute, and serve results without exposing the raw data. It’s like doing surgery while the patient is wrapped in armor — only possible with advanced cryptography.

And here’s the kicker:
Zama is making FHE developer-friendly through open source libraries. You don’t need to be a cryptography expert to use it.

If your company touches sensitive customer data — think healthcare, finance, or anything AI-related — FHE can unlock new possibilities:

• Confidential AI: Run AI models on private user data without exposing it.
• Privacy-preserving Blockchain: Power smart contracts that respect user confidentiality.
• Enterprise Compliance: Meet strict data regulations (GDPR, HIPAA) without trade-offs in functionality.

Zama’s CEO, Rand Hindi, put it best:

“Developers don’t need to know anything about cryptography to get started… our FHE scheme supports any type of application, no matter how complex.”

That accessibility is key. Security often hits a wall because the tech is too hard to implement. Zama is removing that barrier.

This wasn’t just a small round. Zama’s $73M Series A — led by Multicoin Capital and Protocol Labs, with support from Metaplanet, Blockchange, Stake Capital, and others — is one of the largest in French tech history.

They’ve already:

• Boosted their FHE scheme performance by 20x, with 100x on the horizon
• Opened the door to real-world blockchain and AI use cases
• Built a dev experience that focuses as much on speed and ease as on security