Proton welcomes Alisée de Tonnac and Bill Kaiser to its board

Share this page

At Proton, we have experienced incredible growth over the past seven years(new window). Over 50 million people have signed up for Proton services to keep their personal information private. Proton Mail(new window), which we launched in 2014, is now the world’s largest encrypted email service, and Proton VPN(new window), launched in 2017, is one of the fastest-growing VPNs on the market. And our upcoming products, Proton Calendar(new window) and Proton Drive(new window), will grow our encrypted ecosystem, allowing people to protect even more of their information.

As we continue building an internet that serves the interests of everyone by expanding into new markets and developing new services and features, our organization must also grow and adapt accordingly to meet these evolving challenges and opportunities. We are therefore excited to announce that Alisée de Tonnac and Bill Kaiser are joining the Proton Board of Directors.

Alisée de Tonnac is the co-founder and co-CEO of Seedstars, a Swiss-based group whose mission is to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship. Seedstars connects stakeholders, builds companies from scratch with public and private partners, and invests in high-growth ventures within these ecosystems.

Alisée sits on the board of several companies and foundations in Switzerland and abroad and is also a member of the Swiss Innovation Council. She has been named a Forbes 30 under 30 for Social Entrepreneurs, an Innovation Fellow by Wired UK, and is one of Europe’s most influential women in the start-up and venture capital space.

When asked why she wanted to join Proton’s board, Alisée said, “Proton is working to ensure the next generation lives in societies where privacy is still a meaningful word — and they are succeeding. Joining Andy and his brilliant team to uphold such a promise is a challenging and intense journey I am excited to embark on.”

Bill Kaiser is a partner emeritus at Greylock Partners and has served as a board member for dozens of other well-known tech companies, including Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open-source technologies. Bill has identified and guided many promising tech companies through the start-up and scale-up phases to their IPO and beyond.

Speaking on his appointment, Bill said, “The critical importance of online privacy and security has become undeniable in recent years. Individuals and organizations have come to realize that protecting personal information and communication requires attention and investment. I was attracted to Proton initially as a Proton Mail user. I loved the combination of open-source and end-to-end encryption, and as I learned more about its mission and philosophy, I wanted to try to help out in some way. I am excited to join the Proton board and offer my experience and guidance as it works towards achieving its vision.”

Alisée’s broad knowledge of technology trends and consumer behavior in global emerging markets and Bill’s experience leading an organization that produces open-source technology solutions will serve Proton well as we work to make it possible for everyone everywhere to choose privacy.

We are excited to welcome Alisée and Bill to our board and thrilled that such esteemed peers share our vision of an internet where privacy is the default. Their experience and insight will help Proton as we continue to grow and expand our privacy ecosystem. A better internet is possible, and we believe Alisée and Bill have the knowledge, experience, and counsel to help us build it.

Protect your privacy with Proton
Create a free account

Share this page

Andy Yen

Andy is the founder and CEO of Proton. He is a long-time advocate for privacy rights and has spoken at TED, Web Summit, and the United Nations about online privacy issues. Previously, Andy was a research scientist at CERN and has a PhD in particle physics from Harvard University.

Related articles

Whether it’s personal documents such as your birth certificate or confidential business files like work contracts, we all have sensitive documents we need to store securely. With so many storage options available, it’s important to understand the dif
At Proton Mail, your security is our number one priority. Normally, this means protecting your inbox from unauthorized outside access. However, rather than trying to hack your software, phishing emails try to hack you. By spoofing emails from trusted
Learn all about email clients and why you might use one instead of webmail. If you’ve used an app like Gmail on your mobile phone or Outlook on your computer, you’ve used an email client. We explain how an email client works and the pros and cons of
No email service is completely anonymous. Learn how to send an email as anonymously as possible using private email, aliases, and a VPN or Tor. Do you need to send an email without revealing who you are? Unfortunately, you can’t just sign up for a f
Today, we’re introducing Proton Family, our all-in-one plan to protect your family’s privacy.  When you’re a parent, you do everything you can to prepare for the unexpected and keep your family safe. But extending this protection online is difficult
Starting last year, Google began to increase the number of ads displayed in Gmail. It started with more ads in the Promotions tab on mobile. And now it has grown to include advertising messages between regular emails on Gmail’s desktop site. Gmail u