The minds behind the breakthrough technology protecting encrypted networks from AI-powered surveillance
Matthew Bauer
CEO
Serial entrepreneur with more than two decades of experience founding and leading technology startups. Entrepreneur in Residence at CU Boulder, bridging academic innovation with commercial execution. Co-founder and CEO of SecureDNS, bringing extensive startup leadership to transform university-developed DNS security research into enterprise-grade privacy solutions.
Haadi Jafarian
Chief scientist
Associate Professor at University of Colorado Denver specializing in computer science and engineering research, with extensive background across multiple areas of cybersecurity. Co-inventor of the SecureDNS technology, combining academic research excellence with practical security innovation to pioneer breakthrough DNS privacy protection.
Alireza Vahid
Chief technologist
Gleason Endowed Associate Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology and recognized leading cybersecurity expert. Co-inventor of SecureDNS with deep expertise in Wireless Networking, Information Theory, and Cybersecurity. Brings distinguished academic credentials and technical innovation leadership to next-generation privacy technology.
Chad Smith
CFO
Experienced financial executive with 14 years in Private Equity, including tenure at The Carlyle Group and KKR—two of the world's most prestigious investment firms. Multiple interim operating roles and entrepreneurial experience focused on media and conservation sectors. University of Chicago background combines institutional financial expertise with strategic operational leadership.
Amir Niakanlahiji
SecureDNS Inventor
Seasoned cybersecurity professional with a PhD in cybersecurity and over 15 years of experience spanning Amazon, Microsoft, and academic research at the University of Illinois. Co-inventor of the SecureDNS technology, bringing elite industry experience from leading technology companies combined with advanced academic credentials in cybersecurity innovation.
Scott Allan
Chief revenue officer
Scott was first exposed to DNS in the early 90s when he was was the third "member of staff" at Canada's first "Internet Only" ISP. He then launched OpenSRS with some friends, which captured 30% of all gTLD domain name registrations worldwide in 18 months and is now the second largest registrar on the internet. He was fortunate enough to know Vint Cerf and John Gilmore professionally. He never got to meet Jon Postel, sadly. More here. And here.
Strategic Guidance
Chris Butler
Strategy & Security Expert
Pioneer in big data and distributed systems with 25+ years building cross-functional teams that solve complex enterprise challenges. Develops data-driven SaaS solutions across online marketing, data analytics, CPG performance, and financial services. Strategic advisor bringing decades of technology leadership and proven track record in enterprise innovation.
Stephen Candelmo
Chief Counsel
Corporate attorney, advisor, entrepreneur, and investor with nearly three decades representing private and public companies across all stages of growth. Over $3 billion in transactional experience guiding companies through critical business phases. Provides strategic legal counsel and business expertise combining deep legal knowledge with entrepreneurial insight.
Soeren Orlowski
SecureDNS Inventor
Original member of the SecureDNS inventor team who led the initial prototype programming development. Currently Dev Engineer II with AWS (Amazon Web Services), one of the world's leading cloud technology platforms. Continues to apply cutting-edge programming techniques and systems expertise to guide ongoing SecureDNS technology evolution and future development.
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