Optalysys hires Marcella Arthur to accelerate commercial growth
Privacy-enhancing veteran joins as CRO to drive international expansion and fundraising
Leeds, 25 September 2025: Optalysys, a company enabling the future of secure computing by processing data at scale without it needing to be decrypted, has appointed Marcella Arthur as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) in residence to drive its go-to-market strategy and international expansion.
Arthur brings with her over 30 years of experience in executing go-to-market strategies for deeptech companies. She most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Lorica Cybersecurity and previously held senior roles at Inpher, Duality, Microsoft and Unbound Security (acquired by Coinbase). With extensive experience in secure computing, cybersecurity and privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), Arthur will help refine Optalysys’ market approach as it prepares its Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) technology for real-world adoption.
The appointment comes as the company looks ahead to its next phase of growth, including international expansion, with a particular focus on the US market, where Arthur has extensive experience driving innovative technologies across multiple industries and guiding companies through major financing rounds.
It also follows a period of strong growth for Optalysys, marked by the launch of LightLockerTM Node, earlier this year, the world’s first dedicated, enterprise-grade server for blockchain, designed to enable FHE and maintain confidentiality for banks, electronic money institutions, and encrypted Web3 providers. Optalysys has also increased its headcount to 52 over the past year to support growing demand for its technology and strengthened its position through strategic partnerships with Google HEIR, Duality Technologies, and Zama.
Nick New, CEO and Founder of Optalysys, says: “As we transition into our next phase of growth, from our next funding round to global expansion, we need leaders who understand both the complexity of secure computing and the pathways to market. Marcella brings that rare combination of deep industry experience and commercial vision. She knows how to build partnerships and navigate a fast-changing and complex technological environment. We’re delighted to welcome her to the team.”
Marcella Arthur, CRO in residence, says: “Optalysys is tackling one of the biggest challenges in computing today – how to deliver privacy-first technologies that can be adopted at scale. What excites me most is the opportunity to help turn years of research into commercial success by building the right partnerships to drive adoption across various industries. I’m looking forward to working with Nick and the team to bring this technology to the world and show what is possible.”
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About Optalysys
Founded in Leeds, UK, Optalysys enables the future of secure compute by processing encrypted data at scale, without it being decrypted. It does this by using the power of advanced silicon photonics to enable Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), a cryptographic technology to allow organisations to securely commercialise their data. Founded in 2013 by Dr. Nick New (CEO) and Robert Todd (CTO), Optalysys has raised funding from investors including Northern Gritstone, Lingotto, Verve Ventures and imec.xpand. Its most recent round was a £21m Series A in July 2023. Optalysys has built the world’s first dedicated hardware for confidential blockchain transactions — the LightLocker™ Node — enabling real-time Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) on-chain.
For more information, please visit https://optalysys.com/
