Verayo

Verayo develops embedded security systems for IoT authentication and anti-counterfeiting, based on Physical Unclonable Functions (PUF) technology. This technology, initially developed at MIT, gives each semiconductor a unique, unclonable silicon "fingerprint" or "electronic DNA" by leveraging natural variations in the manufacturing process. This makes integrated circuits (ICs) effectively impossible to clone, enables secure authentication of any IC, and can generate unique cryptographic keys from the chip itself.

Founded in 2005 in Silicon Valley and formerly known as PUFCO, the company was a spinout from a 2004 MIT Deshpande Center project. The core intellectual property was licensed exclusively from MIT. Verayo's primary products included unclonable RFID chips and authentication software, targeting markets like mass transit, secure IDs, and anti-counterfeiting for consumer products. The business model focused on providing these security and authentication solutions, working with RFID tag vendors to integrate its technology. The company was venture-capital-backed, with Khosla Ventures listed as an institutional investor. According to PitchBook, the company is out of business as of January 2019.

Keywords: Physical Unclonable Functions, PUF technology, unclonable RFID, silicon fingerprint, IoT security, anti-counterfeiting, semiconductor security, secure authentication, cryptographic key generation, embedded security