# Colin Gounden

> Colin Gounden is the co-founder and CEO of VIA (VIA Science), a Somerville, Massachusetts company building decentralized, quantum-resistant data and identity protection software used by global utilities and the U.S. Department of Defense. A Harvard biochemistry graduate turned serial founder, he previously built and sold a technology services firm with clients like Royal Dutch/Shell for roughly $97M (1999) and founded and sold the analytics firm Grail Research (2009). Since 2016 he has steered VIA from clean-energy analytics into privacy-preserving Web3 security, raising a $28M Series B led by Bosch Ventures in March 2025.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at VIA (VIA Science, Inc.)
- **Organizations:** VIA (VIA Science, Inc.), Grail Research, Monitor Group / Monitor Deloitte, Conduit Communications, IBM
- **Nationality:** United States
- **Education:** AB, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (with computer science coursework), Harvard University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and leads VIA, whose decentralized data platform has been tested and used by the U.S. Department of Defense, Recruited roughly 20 of the world's leading utilities as co-developers and customers, Built VIA's intellectual property portfolio to 18 issued patents (with more pending)

## Career timeline

- **1990s** — Began career at IBM, working with utilities across Europe and North America
- **1996** — Co-founded a technology services firm (Conduit Communications, Boston and London) that bet on internet TCP/IP technology
- **1999** — Sold the technology services firm, with clients including Royal Dutch/Shell, for roughly $97-98M
- **2006** — Founded Grail Research, a business intelligence and analytics firm
- **2009** — Sold Grail Research after growing it to 300+ employees across North America, Europe, Africa, Middle East, India and China
- **2016** — Co-founded VIA with Kate Ravanis; became CEO, entering the clean-energy analytics market
- **2020** — The Westly Group led a $7M investment in VIA
- **2025** — VIA raised a $28M Series B led by Bosch Ventures, with BMW i Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Sentinel Global and Westly Group

## Achievements

- Co-founded and leads VIA, whose decentralized data platform has been tested and used by the U.S. Department of Defense
- Recruited roughly 20 of the world's leading utilities as co-developers and customers
- Built VIA's intellectual property portfolio to 18 issued patents (with more pending)
- Founded and sold Grail Research, growing it from one employee (2006) to 300+ across four continents (2009)
- Co-founded and sold an earlier technology services firm for roughly $97-98M in 1999
- Was the first investor and co-founder of five MIT spinouts, two profitable in their first year
- Partner and elected board director at a top global strategy consulting and private equity firm
- Featured in The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek and the Financial Times; guest lecturer at Harvard Business School

## Latest updates

- **2025-03** — VIA closed a $28M Series B led by Bosch Ventures (with BMW i Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Sentinel Global and Westly Group) to scale its decentralized, quantum-resistant data and identity protection platform.

## Links

- Website: https://solvewithvia.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/colin-gounden
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/SolvewithVIA
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMDR8But7k0

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/colin-gounden
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-14