A venture studio building the infrastructure for a more private, more verifiable, post-classical internet.
Post-Quantum · Privacy-First · Frontier Science · Auditable Code
We build companies, not wrappers. When a product needs new cryptography, new transport stacks, new operating systems, or new ways to simulate physics — we build that. Not an API on top of it. We start with a hard problem the existing toolchain can't solve, develop the toolchain, ship the product, and spin it out as an independent company.
Our work spans four research threads: post-quantum infrastructure, provable media authenticity, frontier quantum simulation, and privacy-first consumer software. AI shows up across all of them — as a tool, as a threat model, and as a deployment target.
Cryptography and transport for the quantum-era Internet.
| Project | Language | Status | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apex Protocol | Rust | ✅ Prod | 568 MiB/s encrypted throughput + ML-KEM768 + 247 µs handshake. Multi-stream, priority-scheduled, built-in FEC. |
| Ape | Rust | ✅ Prod | Post-quantum encrypted reverse tunnels. Hybrid X25519 + ML-KEM768 with adaptive congestion control and forward error correction. |
Cryptographic proof that digital media is real.
| Project | Language | Status | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Signet | iOS/Kotlin + C | ✅ Released | Photo watermarking SDK. Unforgeable shutter-time proof from drand beacon. Binary verification, public, non-interactive. |
Zero-tracking, zero-log, zero-cloud consumer products.
| Project | Language | Status | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Relay | Next.js + TS | ✅ Prod | End-to-end encrypted messenger for high-trust networks. Per-message ephemeral keys, 20-min TTL, encrypted-only storage, no social graph. |
| North9 Search | Next.js 16 | ✅ Prod | Privacy-first metasearch. Zero tracking, zero logs, zero cookies. Aggregates Brave, Mojeek, DDG, Wikipedia with instant answers. |
| NorthUSB | JS/Rust CLI | ✅ Prod | Encrypted vault on USB. Passwords, TOTP, SSH keys, notes — all client-side AES-256-GCM. No server, no network. |
| North9 Black | Next.js + TS | ✅ Prod | Premium security membership. Post-quantum infrastructure, member provisioning, threat intelligence for founders under real threat. |
| NorthOS | Kotlin | 🚀 Alpha | GrapheneOS fork for high-threat environments. Three configurable security tiers, 27+ defensive apps, IMSI-catcher detection, zero Google. |
Quantum simulation and quantum-native applications.
| Project | Language | Status | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|
| qRoute | Python 3.11+ | ✅ v0.1.0 | Hybrid quantum simulator. Exact expectation values on 200–1000+ qubit circuits without approximation or GPU. Auto-routes to optimal backend. On PyPI. |
Self-hosted agents and intelligence platforms.
| Project | Language | Status | Headline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agent (Loop) | Next.js + Fastify | 🚀 Phase 2 | Self-hosted AI agent. Chat UI, WebSocket streaming, tool execution, session history via Redis. Phase 1 done; Phase 2 adds Docker sandboxing. |
| Lantern | Next.js + TS | ✅ Prod | Ad intelligence platform. Monthly competitor analysis + 4 ready-to-launch creative recommendations for invite-only brands. |
| Principle | What it means |
|---|---|
| Build the hard part first | New crypto? New transport? New kernel patches? We build it — not a wrapper. |
| Open source by default | Most work ships under MIT. Trust comes from auditable code, not marketing. |
| Cross-validated, never homegrown | Quantum backends checked against Qiskit to 1e-10. Crypto built on @noble/*, ring, drand, standards — zero custom crypto. |
| Real threat models | Products are built for people and organizations under actual threat, not hypothetical risk. |
| No nonsense | Docs say what something is, what it isn't, and what its limits are. Same applies to how we talk about the company. |
Post-Quantum Infrastructure
└─ Rust (Apex, Ape) + Noise_XX + ML-KEM768 + ChaCha20-Poly1305
Media Authenticity
└─ iOS/Kotlin + C/C++ (Signet) + drand beacon + BLS signatures
Privacy-First
├─ Next.js + TypeScript (Relay, Search, North9Black)
├─ Browser + Rust CLI (NorthUSB)
└─ Android/Kotlin (NorthOS)
Frontier Quantum
└─ Python 3.11+ + NumPy (qRoute)
AI Infrastructure
└─ Next.js + TypeScript + Fastify + PostgreSQL (Agent, Lantern)
- Web — north9.org
- Membership — north9.org/become-member
- Contact — north9.org/contact
Building at the frontier? Privacy infrastructure, post-quantum systems, applied quantum, AI-native products? Let's talk.
All repositories are open source under MIT. Issues and PRs are welcome.
Before contributing:
- Review the project's README for contribution guidelines
- Check existing issues to avoid duplicate work
- For security/crypto: discuss large changes in issues first (audit-first approach)
Code audits and security reports are welcome.