Opaque

Opaque spun out from UC Berkeley’s RISELab to provide a cloud-based platform for secure data analytics and machine learning on encrypted data. The company commercializes its open-source MC2 (Multiparty Collaboration and Competition) platform, which leverages two key technologies – secure hardware enclaves and cryptographic fortification that allows users to work over data silos without compromising on data security and privacy. Opaque provides a secure distributed data analytics framework that uses Spark SQL to run analytic queries securely so that attackers can only view the encrypted data on the server-side of the cloud. Opaque uses advanced encryption to provide data compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA, to protect Personally Identifiable Information (PII).

In June 2023, the firm updated its platform with features for the secure use of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), including optimized data clean rooms and broad support for AI operations within trusted execution environments (TEEs).

Key customers and partnerships

Opaque primarily serves Global 2000 organizations including several of the largest banks, financial institutions, and healthcare institutions in North America. Notable customers include Ant Group, IBM, Scotiabank, and Ericsson.

Funding and financials

In June 2022, the company raised USD 22 million in a Series A funding round led by Walden Catalyst Ventures, bringing the total funding raised to USD 31.6 million. The funds were expected to be utilized to accelerate R&D and double its employee headcount to 100 by the end of 2022.