Inrupt builds technology based on Tim Berners‑Lee’s open‑source Solid to enable personal data vaults and the Enterprise Solid Server, allowing users to aggregate and control data from multiple, disconnected sources. The platform is marketed to businesses and governments to offer citizens and consumers personal data vaults and to rethink fragmented back‑end data architectures. Inrupt positions its technology as enabling organizations to access user data when individuals permit it, creating new opportunities for developers and enterprises. The company emphasizes privacy, user control, and an open marketplace of applications built on standard web formats. Leadership includes co‑founder Sir Tim Berners‑Lee and CEO John Bruce. The article does not disclose revenues or other operating metrics. Inrupt builds a platform to give users control of their personal data by storing it in Personal Online Datastores (PODs) that are interoperable with decentralized applications. The company aims to reshape the internet by enabling consumers, governments, and companies to move to a more open, collaborative web and likens its infrastructure ambitions to core systems such as Visa or Verisign. Inrupt was founded by Tim Berners‑Lee and John Bruce and its team includes cryptography expert Bruce Schneier. Its customers include governments and enterprises, and it has signed contracts with the governments of Sweden, Argentina and the Basque region. The company generated $225,000 in revenue last year and reported $200,000 in revenue in September. Inrupt plans to deploy the new funds to expand its global footprint of Solid deployments in both the government and commercial sectors. Inrupt was created to bring commercial backing, resources and process to Solid, an open-source project Tim Berners-Lee developed at MIT to let users keep their data wherever they choose. Solid aims to enable decentralized apps by letting individuals control their own data rather than storing it on centralized servers. Tim Berners-Lee is the public face and technical originator of the effort, and John Bruce has been tapped as CEO; Bruce resigned from IBM to focus on inrupt full time. The startup has emerged from stealth and says open-source developers have poured into the Solid platform since the announcement. Inrupt plans to hire, expand the Solid platform and build a digital assistant called Charlie, described as a decentralized version of Alexa. The company is backed with an undisclosed amount of funding from Glasswing Ventures as it readies further fundraising and product development.

Total raised

$30M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Dec 2021