ZeroTier wins Money20/20 pitch with quantum-secure platform

ZeroTier won the startup pitch competition at Money20/20 USA in Las Vegas for ZeroTier Quantum, its quantum-secure networking platform.

The result marks a push by ZeroTier into financial services, where banks and other institutions are weighing how to address post-quantum security risks across ageing technology estates.

The issue is becoming more urgent because financial infrastructure upgrades often take years, while information encrypted today could become readable in the future if quantum computing advances far enough. In the industry, that is often described as a risk that data can be collected now and decrypted later.

For lenders, payment groups and other financial firms, the exposure is tied to the long life of customer, transaction and account records. Many operate across a mix of legacy systems, private data centres and cloud environments, making security upgrades difficult to carry out quickly across all networks.

ZeroTier Quantum is a software-defined network overlay designed to secure point-to-point connections across hybrid cloud, multi-cloud and site-to-site deployments. The approach is intended to help institutions protect data in transit across existing systems without replacing every part of the underlying infrastructure at once.

That pitch appears to have resonated at a competition attended by a large startup and investor audience from the financial technology sector. According to Money20/20, the event brought together more than 900 startups alongside founders, funders and investors.

"Winning the Money20/20 startup pitch competition is meaningful validation for ZeroTier as we bring our platform to the financial services market," said Robert Stevenson, Chief Commercial Officer at ZeroTier.

Stevenson linked the award to a broader shift in how financial institutions are approaching quantum-related cyber risk.

"Financial institutions are confronting a complex, long-term migration challenge as quantum risk becomes more immediate. ZeroTier Quantum gives them a practical way to begin protecting connectivity across existing infrastructure now, while building toward a broader crypto-agile strategy," Stevenson said.

Sector pressure

The financial sector has been paying closer attention to post-quantum cryptography as regulators, standards bodies and security teams assess how current encryption methods may need to change over time. The challenge extends beyond banks to insurers, payment processors, capital markets firms and any business holding sensitive data that must remain confidential for long periods.

In practice, much of the difficulty lies in the scale of migration. Institutions may need to review internal systems, third-party connections and data moving between branches, clouds and processing centres while keeping core services running. That makes products designed to sit on top of existing infrastructure attractive to firms trying to limit disruption.

ZeroTier is entering that discussion from a networking angle rather than through a full replacement of core systems. Its argument is that point-to-point traffic can be protected earlier in the migration cycle, giving firms a way to start addressing some risks before broader modernisation work is complete.

ZeroTier also said ZeroTier Quantum meets NIST and NSA standards at CNSA 2.0, placing the product within a framework many large organisations watch when assessing security tools for long-term deployment. In financial services, buyers often look for alignment with recognised standards as they plan procurement and compliance decisions.

Company profile

ZeroTier is known for software-defined networking products that connect devices and systems through networks managed by customers. It serves organisations across multiple industries and is backed by Anorak Ventures, Battery Ventures and Bonfire Ventures.

The Money20/20 award gives the company visibility as it seeks to build business in a market where cybersecurity spending remains resilient, particularly around data protection and infrastructure risk. For financial institutions, the question is less whether post-quantum change will be needed than how to begin the process without waiting for a full rebuild of legacy estates.