UCF Innovation District company joins 127 startups across the globe invited to participate in this year’s program.

Orlando, Fla. (June 26, 2023) – One of the world’s most prestigious accelerators, MassChallenge, has selected USEncryption to be one of 127 small businesses to participate in its 2023 Early Stage Growth cohort.

More than 1,100 companies applied to participate in the program. USEncryption is one of just three companies selected in Florida.

“MassChallenge is one of the biggest and best accelerators in the world with a very large network globally, but also with a deep network into the tech industry,” says Leandro Veltri, CEO, USEncryption. “They are very start-up friendly by not taking equity, so we chose them and they chose us!”

Data privacy and security concerns require confidential data to be protected, mostly locked in silos. They unintentionally block valuable, even life-saving insights.

For instance, during the pandemic, tracing apps for Covid-19 were developed, but ultimately failed. One of the primary reasons was because there was no way to share health data without breaching the confidentiality and privacy of the data.

To solve this issue, USEncryption has created and patented a new Privacy-Enhancing Technology (PET) to process encrypted data, and built a unique platform to share confidential data, ensuring privacy and security through encryption.

With the technology, multiple agencies, health care providers, pharmacies and more could have shared data about Covid transmission without breaching any privacy or security issues.

That technology was born from the work of two professors of physics: Eduardo Mucciolo, of the University of Central Florida, and Claudio Chamon, of Boston University.

Their years of research in the area of quantum physics now have the potential to solve an urgent issue that has baffled cybersecurity experts who know the risks taken when certain data, like medical records and financial information, is used in an unsecure environment.

McKinsey estimates that open data could unlock $3 trillion in economic value per annum.

The company completed a new release of the technology in the spring and are using this opportunity to validate the market and raise funds.

By participating in this accelerator, USEncryption receives access to a global network of partners, experts, and mentors. The program lasts three months, with a hybrid approach of in-person and virtual events. According to their website, companies participating receive:

  • LEANSTACK Training, a continuous innovation platform that helps early-stage entrepreneurs find repeatable and scalable business models.
  • World class industry experts and mentors along with a 1:1 mentorship opportunity.
  • 40+ global corporate partners including IBM, BAE Systems, Carta, Fundify, First Republic Bank, and more.
  • Connections to a network of Community and Ecosystem partners including Venture Café Providence, MassBio, Black Ambition Prize, Houston Downtown Launchpad, Pegasus Park and Biolabs in Dallas, and more.
  • Investor pitch events.
  • Opportunities to win non-dilutive cash prizes and other in-kind awards upon successful program completion.
  • Co-working residency opportunities in our local MassChallenge offices.
  • Continued support and resources as part of a MassChallenge alumni community.

In addition to the three co-founders, the company currently employs three in Central Florida and is targeting to bring the technology to market in 2024.

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For more information media should contact –

USEncryption: Leandro Veltri, CEO, (929) 256-6047, info@usencryption.com

UCF Business Incubation Program: Carol Ann Dykes Logue, 407-635-9882, carolann.dykeslogue@ucf.edu or Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, 407-415-8470, Alan@ByrdConnections.com

 

About USEncryption: USEncryption creates new opportunities to share confidential data with privacy and security. Our innovative method allows insights from encrypted data without having to decrypt it first, never compromising its privacy, security and regulatory compliance. Use cases include training machine learning models on encrypted data, and making predictions from encrypted or unencrypted data. For more information, please visit usencryption.com.

About MassChallenge: MassChallenge is the global network for innovators. Headquartered in the United States with eight locations worldwide, it is the non-profit’s mission to help bold entrepreneurs disrupt the status quo and create sustainable change. Since launching in 2009, MassChallenge has run programs in 24 countries, supported more than 4,000 startups from around the world, and awarded over $18M in equity-free cash and prizes. Learn more about MassChallenge at masschallenge.org.

 

About the UCF Business Incubation Program: The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.

With eight facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. In 2022, current incubator clients supported over 1200 employees and generated over $120M in revenue.  Nineteen companies graduated from the program and remained in the local community. For more information, visit  www.incubator.ucf.edu.