Who owns Proton VPN?

Proton VPN is a service provided by Proton AG(nieuw venster), a company based in Switzerland. The primary shareholder of Proton AG is the Proton Foundation, a Swiss nonprofit established to ensure the company must act in the best interest of the Proton community in perpetuity. Learn about the Proton Foundation(nieuw venster).

Proton employees own the vast majority of shares not held by the foundation. Remaining shares are held by the Fondation Genevoise pour l’Innovation Technologique (FONGIT)(nieuw venster), a nonprofit foundation established for the public good, and by Proton users. Proton benefits from support from Innosuisse (the Swiss Federal Innovation Agency) and the European Commission, but neither organization holds any shares nor exercises any control.

Proton was founded in 2014 by a team of scientists who met at CERN(nieuw venster) (the European Center for Nuclear Research) and created Proton Mail, the world’s largest encrypted email service(nieuw venster).

You can learn more about Proton and why you can trust Proton VPN here(nieuw venster).