Virtru

Virtru

Virtru was founded in 2012 by brothers John and Will Ackerly, whose backgrounds include cybersecurity policy and cryptography engineering. The company emerged from an encryption library called Themis that Will Ackerly had open-sourced; Virtru layered access-control and key-management on top, targeting sectors where data-sharing and compliance collide. Wealth origin is not disclosed — Virtru is a venture-backed company, not a family-office vehicle. Virtru's core product is an encryption layer for email, cloud storage, and collaboration tools — supporting Microsoft Outlook, Google Workspace, and Slack. The platform uses object-level encryption, meaning data stays encrypted even inside a recipient's inbox unless they hold the correct key. Asset classes are technology-heavy: the company has raised over $90M in venture funding from investors including Bessemer Venture Partners and Foundry Group. Geographic footprint spans North America and Europe, with offices in New York, Washington DC, and Madrid. The company employs roughly 200 professionals across three offices. In August 2023, Virtru announced a partnership with Google Cloud to integrate its Trusted Data Format into Google Workspace for DLP (data-loss prevention), extending its reach into enterprise and government clients (per Virtru, August 2023). No separate philanthropic or investment vehicles are publicly associated with Virtru. Virtru is structurally distinct from typical cybersecurity companies because it treats the encryption key as a policy object that can expire, be revoked, or require two-factor authentication. That shifts access control from the IT administrator to the data owner — a model that aligns with zero-trust frameworks adopted by agencies like the US Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security.