TransCrypts founder joins Forbes 30 under 30 list for 2026
TransCrypts chief executive and co-founder Zain Zaidi has been named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2026 in the Social Impact category, highlighting his role in building a secure digital record-verification platform used in both commercial and humanitarian settings.
The recognition comes at the end of a year of rapid growth for the Toronto-based startup. The company raised CAD $20 million in seed funding, opened a new headquarters in downtown Toronto, and moved into new sectors, including healthcare.
The round attracted North American venture firms focused on cybersecurity, data infrastructure, and digital health. The company is using the capital to grow its engineering team. It is also building new integrations with enterprise systems and scaling in sectors that face strict regulation.
Zaidi launched TransCrypts after a personal experience with missing records during his university studies. Several of his academic and personal documents had been misplaced. He identified what he saw as a broader structural weakness in how institutions handle sensitive information.
"That moment changed everything," said Zaidi, CEO and Co-Founder of TransCrypts. "When something as personal and important as your academic history can simply disappear, it becomes clear the system is broken. People deserve better. I wanted to build a solution that puts control back in the hands of individuals, not institutions."
Zaidi later joined forces with his cousin, Ali Zaheer, who is now Chief Operating Officer. The pair set out to create a standardised approach to secure and portable data, underpinned by a shared belief in broader data sovereignty.
The company's early stages took place within the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus entrepreneurship incubator. The program offered mentorship and technical guidance. It also provided a setting where the founders could refine prototypes and test potential uses.
TransCrypts has positioned its platform as a way for individuals and organisations to manage, store, and verify digital records. The company focuses on encryption and secure data portability. It aims to be used in both regulated industries and crisis response.
Humanitarian deployments
The platform is also used by humanitarian and government agencies in Turkey and Ukraine. In times of natural disasters and geopolitical instability, local authorities and aid groups faced disruption of identity documents, employment histories, and other records needed for verification processes.
In those environments, verification became a time-critical task for aid distribution and recovery work. TransCrypt's technology supports rapid checks and secure record sharing between agencies.
"Our work in Turkey and Ukraine showed us the full potential of secure, rapid data verification at scale," Zaidi said. "In moments where every minute matters, accurate records can save lives, enable aid distribution, and reconnect families. Those deployments demonstrated that what we're building isn't just a product; it's an infrastructure for human resilience."
HR and employment focus
Early commercial growth for TransCrypts came from employment and HR verification. Employers and background-check providers sought alternatives to slower, error-prone processes. The company offers a system that delivers verified credentials in a digital format.
TransCrypts presents its approach as a way to reduce fraud risks and delays in hiring workflows. The platform sits between issuing institutions, such as universities or former employers, and organisations requesting verification.
This segment laid the groundwork for broader enterprise use. It also provided a base of institutional issuers and verifiers that the startup could then extend into other verticals.
Push into healthcare
TransCrypts has also expanded into healthcare. The sector has long faced fragmented record systems and complex privacy obligations. The company has obtained HIPAA certification for its platform.
Certification allows TransCrypts to handle protected health information in the United States in accordance with specific regulatory standards. The company says this framework lets consumers exercise more direct control over fragmented health data held by providers, insurers, and other institutions.
