Fabric Cryptography has successfully raised $33 million in a Series A funding round to advance the development of its innovative cryptography processing unit, known as the Verifiable Processing Unit (VPU).

The VPU is designed with a specialized instruction set architecture that significantly accelerates cryptographic tasks, far surpassing the capabilities of traditional CPUs and GPUs.

The funding will be allocated towards the development of computing chips, software, and advanced cryptographic algorithms.

Founded by former MIT and Stanford students, the company boasts a team of over 50 engineers and cryptographers with experience from major tech firms like Nvidia and Google.

This latest funding round was co-led by Blockchain Capital and 1kx, contributing to a total of $39 million raised since the company's inception.

Prior to this, Fabric raised $6 million in a seed round led by Metaplanet, which included participation from Inflection and Liquid2 Ventures.

The company has reportedly secured tens of millions of dollars in pre-orders for the VPU, primarily from the Web3 industry, driven by the rising demand for zero-knowledge proofs.

Production of the VPU is expected to commence later this year, aiming to enhance speed and reduce costs associated with cryptographic workloads.

The VPU's programmability and flexibility allow it to adapt to emerging cryptographic algorithms, setting it apart from traditional fixed-function chips.

CEO Michael Gao believes that their technology will revolutionize the field of cryptography in a manner similar to how Nvidia transformed artificial intelligence.

Investor Yuan Han Li is optimistic that the VPU could redefine digital systems by embedding privacy and verifiability as fundamental components.

Fabric argues that the hardware sector has historically underinvested in cryptography, relying on general-purpose CPUs and GPUs that fall short for advanced cryptographic computations.