WISeKey International Holding Stock

WISeKey International Holding AG (WISeKey) operates as a Swiss cybersecurity company.

The company focuses on delivering integrated security solutions globally. The company integrates its secure semiconductors, cybersecurity software, and a globally recognized Root of Trust (RoT) into leading-edge products and services that protect users, devices, data, and transactions in the connected world.

On April 1, 2022, SEALSQ Corp was incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. SEALSQ Corp (SEALSQ) is a wholly owned subsidiary of WISeKey. SEALSQ Corp was incorporated by WISeKey to serve as the holding company of 2 subsidiaries and 1 branch (which represent WISeKey's global semiconductor business). Pursuant to an internal restructuring of WISeKey on January 1, 2023, WISeKey transferred the ownership of WISeKey Semiconductors SAS, a French semiconductor manufacturer and distributor; WISeKey IoT Japan KK, a Japan-based sales subsidiary of WISeKey Semiconductors SAS; and WISeKey Semiconductors, Taiwan Branch, a Taiwan- based sales and support branch of WISeKey Semiconductors SAS, to SEALSQ in a share exchange.

The company designs, develops, and markets secure semiconductors worldwide as a fabless manufacturer. It provides added security and authentication layers on its semiconductors, which can be tailored to its customers' needs.

The company is an OEM supplier of cybersecurity to manufacturers of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, branded appliances, and precious objects. Its products bridge the physical and the digital world with a unique symbiosis between tamperproof semiconductors (physical) and managed cryptography (digital).

Customers use the company's products to bolt trust on objects and devices ranging from pieces of art, medical consumables, and plastic access tokens to high-end appliances, such as personal health monitors, industrial controllers, drones, and satellites. Brands count on its products to fight counterfeit, grey import, and theft. Industry and society count on the company's products to protect connected devices, which are often placed in unmanned and uncontrolled environments, against manipulation, disruption, spoofing, and data leakage.

WISeKey Semiconductors uses WISeID as a Universal Communications Identifier (UCID). The WISeKey technologies ensure that devices and objects in the metaverse are authentic and cannot be corrupted or duplicated.

WISeKey provides Digital Identities for Objects in the Metaverse that includes an identification module that its built into the protocol, while supplementary applications will be developed. Users will have autonomy over their identity meaning that they are in full control of their personal identification information and hence need not to rely on any central entity or third party for identity verification. With a true Non Fungible Token (NFT) identity, users can create, sign, and verify claims, while parties who interact with a user will be able to prove their identity.

The company's platform pairs physical semiconductors (and therefore the devices and objects they are bolted on) with their digital equivalent.

The company sells into all industries and to companies of varying sizes, both vendors of appliances and end customers. It sold more than 1 billion semiconductors and it has customers that bought more than 100 million of its high-end semiconductors. As of June 30, 2022, the company had sold to over 175 customers in over 35 countries.

WISeKey uses a unique method to secure semiconductors designed by it through cutting-edge authentication processes combined with post-quantum technology and third-party identity blockchains, which together with on-the-ground measures ensures the authenticity of the original IoT and generates its correspondent digital twin.

WISeKey uses a unique method to secure semiconductors designed by it through cutting-edge authentication processes combined with identity blockchain and post-quantum technology, which together with on-the-ground measures ensures the authenticity of the original IoT and generates its correspondent digital twin.

WISeKey uses a patented method to digitally certify the authenticity of a physical object of value. The method includes a storage device, a digital certificate of authenticity (encrypted information reflecting at least one characteristic unique to the physical object, checking, whenever required, the validity of the digital certificate of authenticity by use of a network computer), the network computer cooperating with the storage device and a validating or a certifying authority so as to output sensibly in real time the status of validity of the digital certificate of authenticity, and the ability to modify it, whenever required.

With a rich portfolio of more than 46 patent families, covering over 100 fundamental individual patents, and another 22 patents under review, WISeKey continues to expand its platform use in various domains. SEAL Semiconductors already secures millions of objects (luxury products, expensive wine, autonomous cars, routers, drones, jewelry, collector's items, high-end watches, art, etc.), these semiconductors include NFT applications backed by Digital Identification technology that secures, authenticates, and proves ownership of digital and tangible assets.

WISeKey is also working with the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to define recommended practices for performing trusted network-layer onboarding, which will aid in the implementation and use of trusted onboarding solutions for IoT devices at scale. The WISeKey contribution to the project will be Trust Services for credentials and secure semiconductors to keep credential secure. Specifically, WISeKey will offer INeS Certificate Management Service (CMS) for issuing credentials and VaultIC secure semiconductors to provide tamperproof key storage and cryptographic acceleration.

The company's semiconductors are used for securing supply chain management of critical goods by integrating IoT devices communicating with picosatellites launched by it. WISeKey security semiconductors are being used to protect different types of IoT devices such as satellites and their captured images and communications from agriculture and logistics sensors. This product leverages the extensive reach of the picosatellites and their ability to connect to low energy IoT devices and combines it with the immutability of data and smart contracting feature of the third-party Casper blockchain to offer unique benefits to the supply chain management industry.

The company's semiconductors, when placed on any object, can securely link the object to NFTs enabling authentication and tracking of the object. As such, WISeKey IoT and data analytics help supply chain managers make decisions on their objects and prevent possible accidents or other delay-inducing occurrences that happen on the way.

WISeKey's NFT-related business is to provide its security - related services, Secure Element, to customers in the form of security-enhanced semiconductors. WISeKey does not provide any technology or services in the management of the NFT creation or the distribution of NFTs. The Secure Element service that WISeKey provides enables SEAL's customers to create and maintain a secure link between an object and its NFT (issued by a WISeKey customer that purchases WISeKey semiconductors) that is stored in a blockchain.

WISeKey semiconductors are designed for securely storing cryptographic secrets and providing cryptographic functions that use the secrets. The end result is that the secret stays securely stored on the semiconductor while it is being used in cryptographic calculations.

The company's technology enables systems and methods for establishing the long-term authenticity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) minted on a public blockchain by linking the NFT to its associated object (which itself may be physical, digital, tangible or intangible), the minter of the NFT, the nature of the association of the NFT minter to the associated physical object, and the possessor and/or originator of the object. In particular, the company's technology enables the embodiment of this information that constitutes the linkage between the NFT and the associated digital object, physical object, or intangible object (e.g. intellectual property assets, contracts, or other intangible assets), and consequently allows for authentication of the NFT and its related object in a variety of scenarios.

Segments

The company operates through two segments, Internet of Things (IoT) and managed Public Key Infrastructure (mPKI).

The IoT segment encompasses the design, manufacturing, sales, and distribution of microprocessors operations. This segment is centered on the company's family of secure microcontrollers designed to give an unforgeable identity to any connected device.

The mPKI segment includes all operations relating to the provision of secured access keys, authentication, signing software, certificates, and digital security applications. This segment encompasses the company's digital identity, certificate management and signing solutions, and trust services.

For bundled packages, the company accounts for individual products and services separately if they are distinct - i.e. if a product or service is separately identified from other items in the bundled package and if a customer can benefit from it.

Solution

The company is in the physical/cyber trust business. The company offers to its customers:

'Secure Elements' implementing a mix of analog and digital countermeasures, which are the DNA of the company's engineering teams, constantly monitoring, and anticipating the new generation of attacks that the cyber hackers may develop.

A provisioning and personalization platform, which manages the creation of digital keys and certificates and their injection into the company's secure elements.

A Root Certificate Authority, which guarantees the unicity and the authenticity of the digital identities, which the company is generating for its customers.

The company's products and infrastructures are certified with the highest grading of the industry by third party certification labs.

The company designs, develops, and markets secure semiconductors worldwide as a fabless manufacturer, meaning it does not manufacture the semiconductors, but instead collaborate with production partners for all phases of the manufacturing process of its semiconductors/ICs, including wafer fabrication and packaging and testing. The company provides added security and authentication layers on its semiconductors, which can be tailored to customers' needs.

The company's production partners are responsible for the procurement of all of the raw materials used in manufacturing its products and it understands that such raw materials are multi-sourced.

Product and Services

Certificates: The company recognizes revenue on a straight-line basis over the validity period of the certificate, which is usually one to three years. This period starts after the certificate has been issued by the Certificate Authority and may be used by the customer for authentication and signature, by checking the certificate validity against the Root of Trust, which is maintained by the company on its IT infrastructure. Customers pay for certificates when certificates are issued and invoiced. The excess of payments over recognized revenue is shown as deferred revenue.

SaaS: The company's Software as a Service (SaaS) arrangement cover the provision of cloud-based certificate life-cycle-management solutions and signing and authentication solutions. The company recognizes revenue on a straight-line basis over the service period, which is usually yearly renewable. Customers usually pay ahead of quarterly or yearly service periods; the paid amounts, which have not yet been recognized are shown as deferred revenue.

Software: The company provides software for certificates life-cycle management and signing and authentication solutions. The company recognizes license revenue when the software has been delivered and Post-Contract Customer Support (PCS) revenue over the service period, which is usually one-year renewable. Customers pay upon delivery of the software or over the PCS.

Implementation, Integration, and Other Services: The company provides services to implement and integrate multi-element cybersecurity solutions. Most of the time the solution elements are off-the-shelve non-customized components, which represent distinct performance obligations. Implementation and integration services are payable when rendered, while other revenue elements are payable and recognized as per their specific description in this section.

WISeKey also provides hosting and monitoring of infrastructure services, which are distinct performance obligations and are paid and recognized over the service period.

Growth Strategies

A large part of the company's business relies on the one-time-sale of hardware. The company also, however, created its own post-market for provisioning, onboarding, and life cycle management, offering an additional and recurring monetization opportunity. Those post-market services also fortify customer stickiness.

The company's growth strategies are to grow global customer base; expand its presence in the market by leveraging its ecosystem of partners; expand within its existing customers as they grab their market opportunities; expand within its existing customers as it expands to new parts of their network, or as it displaces a competitor; and introduce new products to create additional opportunities in upgrade markets, in different sectors, and in new applications of its technology in innovating markets.

Research and Development

The company's research and development spending totaled USD 3.9 million in the year ended December 31, 2022.

Divestiture

On June 24, 2022, the company sold 51% ownership in arago GmbH and its affiliates (together arago or the arago Group).

History

WISeKey International Holding AG was founded in 1999. The company was incorporated in 2015 under the laws of Switzerland.