Proton, the Swiss company behind a suite of privacy-focused apps
such as ProtonMail, is following in the footsteps of Signal and Mozilla by transitioning to a new non-profit foundation model.
The newly setup
Proton Foundation will serve as the main shareholder to the existing corporate entity that is Proton AG, which will continue as a for-profit company under the auspices of the Foundation. This, according to CEO
Andy Yen, is designed to make the organization self-sustainable, without having to rely on donations,
grants, or commercial tie-ups with corporations.
Indeed, while the likes of
Signal has relied on the backing of billionaires such as WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, and Mozilla leans
heavily on search revenue from Google, Yen says that the Proton Foundation wants to set itself apart by retaining a “profitable and healthy business” at its core. So basically, it wants to operate as though it is a bonafide profit-making business, without having to convince the world that its “privacy” promise plays second fiddle to external entities.
“This change in governance does not signal a shift in how our core businesses are run,” Yen wrote in a
blog post announcing the change today. “Proton is not profit-driven, but we still must retain profitability as a core objective because a cornerstone of safeguarding Proton’s mission is independence through self-sustainability.”
techcrunch.com
