Belfort

Michiel is the principal architect of Belfort’s hardware platform for encrypted computation. His PhD at KU Leuven focused on accelerating Fully Homomorphic Encryption, with contributions to DARPA’s DPRIVE program. He invented Belfort’s patented streaming architecture, won the inaugural ZPrize, and previously worked at Microsoft Research and Rambus.

Michiel

Van Beirendonck

CEO & CTO

Michiel is the principal architect of Belfort’s hardware platform for encrypted computation. His PhD at KU Leuven focused on accelerating Fully Homomorphic Encryption, with contributions to DARPA’s DPRIVE program. He invented Belfort’s patented streaming architecture, won the inaugural ZPrize, and previously worked at Microsoft Research and Rambus.

Laurens is a serial entrepreneur and investor focused on cryptography and AI infrastructure. He helped commercialize breakthrough technologies at Google[x], invested in crypto startups at Kraken Ventures, and founded Syndicate One in Belgium. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and studied electrical engineering at KU Leuven and Imperial College London.

Laurens

De Poorter

COO

Laurens is a serial entrepreneur and investor focused on cryptography and AI infrastructure. He helped commercialize breakthrough technologies at Google[x], invested in crypto startups at Kraken Ventures, and founded Syndicate One in Belgium. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and studied electrical engineering at KU Leuven and Imperial College London.

Ingrid is a Full Professor at KU Leuven and one of the world’s foremost experts in cryptographic hardware. She has led two ERC Advanced Grants and contributed to major projects with DARPA and Intel. Earlier, she held fellowships at UC Berkeley and UCLA. More recently, she consulted for Google’s FHE team and was a Visiting Professor at Stanford.

Ingrid

Verbauwhede

Chief Scientist

Ingrid is a Full Professor at KU Leuven and one of the world’s foremost experts in cryptographic hardware. She has led two ERC Advanced Grants and contributed to major projects with DARPA and Intel. Earlier, she held fellowships at UC Berkeley and UCLA. More recently, she consulted for Google’s FHE team and was a Visiting Professor at Stanford.

Furkan is a hardware engineer specialized in cryptographic applications with a PhD from KU Leuven. He co‑developed Belfort's core architecture and advanced its design toward real‑world integration. Previously, he interned at Intel FPGA Labs, patented a method for hardware protection, and was twice a finalist in AMD/Xilinx’s OpenHW competition.

Furkan

Turan

Engineering Lead

Furkan is a hardware engineer specialized in cryptographic applications with a PhD from KU Leuven. He co‑developed Belfort's core architecture and advanced its design toward real‑world integration. Previously, he interned at Intel FPGA Labs, patented a method for hardware protection, and was twice a finalist in AMD/Xilinx’s OpenHW competition.

Jan-Pieter is a cryptographer specializing in post-quantum and advanced encryption. He was a key developer of Saber and a finalist in the international standardisation competition for post-quantum cryptography. His research focuses on algorithmic and mathematical innovations and earned the IBM Innovation PhD Award and the Nokia Bell Scientific PhD Award.

Jan-Pieter

d’Anvers

Research Lead

Jan-Pieter is a cryptographer specializing in post-quantum and advanced encryption. He was a key developer of Saber and a finalist in the international standardisation competition for post-quantum cryptography. His research focuses on algorithmic and mathematical innovations and earned the IBM Innovation PhD Award and the Nokia Bell Scientific PhD Award.

David has significant experience in cryptography and decentralized systems. Before joining Belfort, he was a software engineer at IOTA and one of its ecosystem spin-out projects, contributing to core infrastructure and tooling. At Belfort, he focuses on software integration and system development for encrypted computation.

David

De Troch

Senior Software Dev

David has significant experience in cryptography and decentralized systems. Before joining Belfort, he was a software engineer at IOTA and one of its ecosystem spin-out projects, contributing to core infrastructure and tooling. At Belfort, he focuses on software integration and system development for encrypted computation.

Ahmet is a hardware engineer specialized in cryptographic architectures. His main expertise lies in designing hardware accelerators for FHE, ZKP, and PQC. He holds a PhD from Sabancı University, where his dissertation received the IEEE Turkey Best PhD Thesis Award. Before joining Belfort, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at TU Graz on cryptographic hardware design.

Ahmet

Can Mert

Senior Hardware Engineer

Ahmet is a hardware engineer specialized in cryptographic architectures. His main expertise lies in designing hardware accelerators for FHE, ZKP, and PQC. He holds a PhD from Sabancı University, where his dissertation received the IEEE Turkey Best PhD Thesis Award. Before joining Belfort, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at TU Graz on cryptographic hardware design.