sunscreen
2 known investors
Privacy engine of the new web.
Also known as Sunscreen · Sunscreen-tech
Investors · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Sunscreen (sunscreen.tech) develops cryptographic developer tooling centered on fully homomorphic encryption (FHE), a form of encryption that permits computation directly on encrypted data. The company positions its current work as a "Secure Processing Framework" summarized by the tagline "one program, any chain." Its stated goal is to make FHE fast and usable enough for ordinary developers so that privacy can be added to existing and new applications, with initial focus on web3 and use cases such as decentralized finance, prediction markets, private auctions, and machine learning.
The company's first-generation product is an open-source FHE compiler based on the BFV scheme, published in the Sunscreen-tech/Sunscreen GitHub repository under the AGPL-3.0 license and accompanied by documentation and a hosted playground. The repository warns that the library is experimental, has not been externally audited, and is not intended for production use. Sunscreen has also built a zero-knowledge proof compiler intended to work alongside FHE, motivated by the need for "verifiable hidden state" — combining input privacy with verifiability — which the company argues existing ZK infrastructure does not address well when paired with FHE.
A second-generation compiler, called Parasol, targets the TFHE scheme and is maintained in a separate SPF repository. Parasol lets developers write programs in C and annotate which inputs should be encrypted, with the toolchain handling steps such as parameter selection; the company describes this as a "bring your own program" computing paradigm underpinning its secure processing framework. Company blog posts also cover applied topics including private internet voting, private information retrieval at scale, and private double auctions in which operators learn order details only after matching.
Traction
Public traction signals are limited to the open-source project: the Sunscreen-tech/Sunscreen GitHub repository shows 308 stars, 35 forks, 10 watchers and 715 commits. The company states it has spent several years building its TFHE compiler and has published a series of technical posts and demos, including private double auction demos.
Latest developments
The company's most recent public work centers on the second-generation Parasol compiler for the TFHE scheme and the associated "Secure Processing Framework," alongside blog research on private internet voting, private information retrieval, and private double auctions where operators only learn order details after matching.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Sunscreen describes itself as building what it believes is the most developer-friendly TFHE compiler available, and frames its work against a backdrop of growing demand for privacy in web3, citing front-running attacks on blockchains and users' desire to conceal holdings and trading strategies while using DeFi.
The company's stated differentiators are developer ergonomics and a "bring your own program" model: developers write standard C code and mark which inputs are encrypted rather than hand-crafting FHE circuits, with parameter selection automated by the compiler. Sunscreen also pairs FHE with a purpose-built zero-knowledge proof compiler to provide verifiability alongside input privacy, arguing that general-purpose ZK infrastructure is not well suited to FHE workloads.
Technology
Sunscreen's technology stack consists of compilers for fully homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs. The first-generation compiler implements the BFV FHE scheme and is written primarily in Rust (with C++/CMake and Clang build dependencies, and SEAL-derived components), organized into modules for the compiler frontend, backend, runtime, math libraries, logproof, bulletproofs, curve25519, and a TFHE crate. The second-generation Parasol compiler targets the TFHE scheme, accepts C source with directives marking encrypted inputs, and automates parameter selection. The company's ZKP compiler is designed specifically to provide verifiability for FHE computations, supporting the notion of "verifiable hidden state." A browser playground and published documentation are available for the FHE compiler.
Go-to-market
Sunscreen distributes its core FHE and ZKP compiler as open-source software on GitHub under AGPL-3.0, with documentation, examples, and a hosted playground for trying the compiler before installation. The repository states that users requiring a different license for their application should contact the company, and contributors must sign a Contributor License Agreement. The company also runs a grants program to encourage developers to build private applications with FHE and to promote broader FHE research, particularly in a web3 context, and publishes technical blog posts and demos.
Application developers — particularly in web3/blockchain — who want to add privacy to their applications, plus FHE researchers targeted through the company's grants program.
History
Sunscreen introduced itself publicly by open-sourcing its fully homomorphic encryption compiler and simultaneously launching a grants program for FHE research and development. It subsequently released a zero-knowledge proof compiler designed to work with FHE, and later shifted focus to a second-generation TFHE-based compiler named Parasol, housed in a separate SPF repository, which forms the basis of its current "secure processing framework" positioning. The original BFV-based compiler repository remains public.
Risks & controversies
The company's own GitHub repository warns that the FHE/ZKP compiler library is intended for experiments only, has not been externally audited, and is not intended for production use. No funding, revenue, headcount or corporate-registration information is available in the sources reviewed, and no independent press coverage of the company was found.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 5
by search overlap
Companies competing with sunscreen for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 4
launches, deals, and filingsSunscreen launched a grants program to encourage development of private applications using FHE and to promote broader FHE research, especially in the context of web3.
Sunscreen described its second-generation compiler, Parasol, targeting the TFHE scheme, which lets developers write programs in C with directives marking encrypted inputs; it forms the foundation of the company's 'secure processing framework' vision, with code in a separate SPF repository.
The company publicly introduced itself, open-sourced its fully homomorphic encryption compiler, and kicked off a grants program.
Sunscreen described a ZKP compiler built to provide verifiability for FHE-based applications, published as a two-part blog series on why existing ZK infrastructure falls short with FHE.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- sunscreensunscreen.tech · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does sunscreen do?
- Sunscreen builds developer-facing compilers for fully homomorphic encryption and zero-knowledge proofs, aimed at web3 applications.
- Who are sunscreen's investors?
- sunscreen's investors include Coinbase Ventures, Lattice Capital.