# Uma Roy

> Uma Roy is the co-founder and CEO of Succinct, the company building SP1 - the world's fastest open-source zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM). A former Google Brain AI researcher and MIT double major in mathematics and computer science, she pivoted from machine learning to cryptography to make zero-knowledge proofs accessible to every developer. Under her leadership, Succinct raised $55M led by Paradigm, launched a decentralized prover network, and positioned SP1 as critical infrastructure securing billions in TVL across major Layer 2 networks.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Succinct
- **Organizations:** Succinct, MIT, Google Brain, Gantry, D.E. Shaw Research, Citadel LLC
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's in Mathematics and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Master's in Machine Learning / Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- **Known for:** Co-founded Succinct and raised $55M led by Paradigm, Built SP1 - the world's fastest 100% open-source zkVM, 28-30x faster than competing solutions for certain programs, Launched Succinct Network - decentralized prover network generating $1.7M annualized in proving fees

## Career timeline

- **High School** — Participated in MIT research program with graduate students; published a paper
- **~2015-2021** — Studied mathematics and computer science at MIT; completed master's thesis on ML estimation of covariance matrices
- **~2019** — Internship at D.E. Shaw Research (computational biology and drug discovery)
- **~2020** — Internship at Citadel LLC
- **~2021** — AI Resident at Google Brain, focusing on NLP and cross-lingual learning
- **~2022** — Founding Engineer at Gantry (ML infrastructure startup)
- **2022** — Co-founded Succinct with John Guibas
- **2024-01** — Launched SP1 - open-source RISC-V zero-knowledge virtual machine
- **2024-03** — Led Succinct's $55M funding round (Series A) led by Paradigm
- **2024-12** — Launched Succinct Network - decentralized prover network
- **2025-01** — Released SP1 Turbo (v4.0.0) - world's fastest zkVM with major cost and latency improvements
- **2025** — SP1 Hypercube announced - real-time Ethereum block proving in under 12 seconds
- **2025** — SP1 adopted by Mantle, Solana ecosystem; secures billions in TVL

## Achievements

- Co-founded Succinct and raised $55M led by Paradigm
- Built SP1 - the world's fastest 100% open-source zkVM, 28-30x faster than competing solutions for certain programs
- Launched Succinct Network - decentralized prover network generating $1.7M annualized in proving fees
- Led team to achieve real-time Ethereum block proving (under 12 seconds) with SP1 Hypercube
- SP1 securing billions in TVL across major L2 networks including Mantle
- Angel investor in Cursor, Cognition, Eigenlayer, and Conduit
- Published AI research at Google Brain focused on NLP and cross-lingual learning
- Proved that a team without formal cryptography training could build world-class ZK solutions

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — Succinct Prover Network reports $130K in fees earned by provers ($1.7M annualized), with 10x cost reduction from prover competition
- **2025-04** — Uma Roy spoke at TOKEN2049 Singapore on 'Truth in a Post Truth World' and toured Asia (Hong Kong, Seoul)
- **2025-02** — Spoke at ETHDenver on 'The Golden Age of Bitcoin' and Pragma Denver on 'Provers Networks from First Principle'
- **2025-01** — Released SP1 Turbo (v4.0.0), the world's fastest zkVM, with significant cost and latency improvements
- **2024-12** — Launched Succinct Network - decentralized prover network open to all participants
- **2024-03** — Closed $55M Series A funding round led by Paradigm

## Links

- Website: http://uma.sh/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/umaroy/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/pumatheuma

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/uma-roy
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-13