The newly founded startup PolyCrypt is rethinking blockchain technology and also enables transactions on the Internet of Things (IoT) without waiting time and at significantly reduced prices. For a successful transfer to the economy, the founding team is supported with its project Perun by the start-up secure funding program of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is now going from funding phase I to funding phase II.
Blockchain technologies have long made it possible to carry out simple transactions without banks or financial services by using so-called “smart contracts”. However, the technologies currently available are not yet suitable for mass-produced transactions with high quantities due to high fees and a long waiting period.
This is where the startup PolyCrypt starts with its Perun project and develops high-performance blockchain systems that can process significantly more transactions quickly and at significantly reduced fees. But not only that: the founding team is already thinking a decisive step forward. Not only people, but also connected things should be able to exchange ideas and conclude contracts with each other. For example, an electric car could soon pay for itself at the charging station, without any intervention from the motorist behind the wheel. What began as a research project at the Technical University of Darmstadt under the direction of Prof. Sebastian Faust, Head of the Department of Applied Cryptography, led to the successful foundation of the start-up PolyCrypt in November last year. The BMBF’s StartUpSecure funding programme has accompanied the Perun project from the very beginning. In funding phase I, the financial support enabled the establishment of a team, the development of basic technology as well as the cooperation with well-known partners such as Bosch or Telekom AG. With the help of the funding phase II, which is now beginning, the further development of the product and the successful transfer to the economy by means of pioneering projects with established companies for testing the market potential are planned. The founding incubator StartUpSecure of the same name | ATHENE, based at the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT and the Technical University of Darmstadt, has provided intensive support and advice to the founding team with their technical and economic expertise.
Perun’s solution focuses on energy and mobility as well as decentralized marketplaces
The Perun project can be explained by an example from the field of electromobility. Demand for electric cars is increasing and suppliers need to incentivise customers not to charge electric cars at the same time at charging stations in order to avoid overloading the electricity grid. This can work, for example, through financial offers. With Perun’s solution, for example, an automobile manufacturer could get its end customer to charge the electric car at night through a discount campaign. The start-up from Darmstadt has developed software for this purpose, with which a transaction between the customer and the car manufacturer can be handled simply. “The Perun software is based on blockchain, a technology that uses cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and enables transactions between different participants in a blockchain network in the form of smart contracts. These automated contracts could now ensure that the owner of an electric car is credited with a certain amount for charging the car during off-peak hours,” explains Hendrik Amler, CEO of startup PolyCrypt.
Perun software technology is fast and cost-effective, making it attractive for small and medium-sized enterprises
Perun’s solution is scalable in its application and could enable 10,000 transactions per second between two people. It is cost-effective in its implementation, as the transactions carried out can be carried out without the blockchain and thus without the legal examination. However, if there are discrepancies between two parties in the payment process, the Perun software automatically resorts to the use of the blockchain. The existing blockchain solutions always take the function of a court in the transaction between two parties in order to prevent abusive payment transactions. This is just as expensive in legal implementation as it is in real life. With the perun solution, this can save significant costs. The technology also offers companies many opportunities to mediate directly between companies, automate manual processes while increasing IT security and data protection. Thanks to Perun software, networked things should also be able to exchange information independently in secure ecosystems in the future and enable them to conclude contracts. This is made possible by the use of smart contracts and many other components that have emerged from the research results of recent years in the field of applied cryptography.
