Decentralised Communication Network Matrix Exceeds 60m Users

“Our rapid growth shows that enterprises and the public sector are realising that email and traditional collaboration tools are simply not secure by modern standards, and are restrictive in terms of data ownership and interoperability.”

Users. Lots of users. London-based Matrix says it has surpassed 60 million users worldwide for its open network for decentralised communication.

Some people go their entire lives without hearing news that good, but Matrix is not part of that crowd. The company explains that it has experienced 71% growth in the last 12 months, adding 25 million users to its services.

Matrix was founded in 2014, but in June 2019 it went out of beta. Its apps are natively interoperable, and the company points to the EU’s Digital Market Act which has encouraged more interoperability between messaging apps.

The tech firm’s flagship app Element is a messaging and collaboration platform created by Matrix founders Matthew Hodgson (CEO) and Amandine Le Pape (COO).

Le Pape comments: “Our rapid growth shows that enterprises and the public sector are realising that email and traditional collaboration tools are simply not secure by modern standards, and are restrictive in terms of data ownership and interoperability.”

Hodgson adds that the 60-million-user milestone is “a clear sign that users don’t want to be subjected to advertising-funded messaging apps that data-mine their information”.

The tech firm is keen to challenge big tech and takes a lot of swipes at the famous names.

The company notes: “In a year where the spotlight shined on big tech’s privacy shortcomings, users have flocked towards Element and other Matrix-based apps in favour of less secure messaging goliaths such as WhatsApp and Telegram.

“The invasion of Ukraine has also accelerated public sector and enterprise interest in data sovereign, end-to-end encrypted collaboration as opposed to the likes of Slack and Microsoft Teams.”

  • Matrix is not alone – read about ‘UK Government Takes on Big Tech with Pro-Competition Regime’ here

Matrix works with consumers, businesses and governments. It says the US, UK, French and German governments use paid-for enterprise versions of Element for communications.

For example, Germany’s “entire” healthcare system is using Matrix as the standard for messaging, voice and video. With a population of 83 million, the people of Germany may well be quoting Morpheus: “The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now in this very room.”

Away from movie quotes, following Gitter’s integration with Matrix, open source collaboration app Rocket.Chat (which has a 12 million-user base) is allowing federation with Matrix. This gives users the option to natively interoperate with the wider Matrix network itself from Rocket.Chat.

Matrix didn’t give a timeline, but it is targeting 100 million users and also reveals its ambitions.

The entity supports VoIP for small groups, and is currently building out to scale to “hundreds of concurrent users”.

It also wants to turn devices into servers to create a P2P network, and plans a decentralised, open source metaverse platform built entirely on top of the Matrix protocol. ‘Third Room’ will enable people to discover and create virtual worlds for collaboration.

Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton is the Editor of eWeek UK. He has 18 years' journalism and writing experience. His career has taken him to China, Japan and the UK - covering tech, fintech and business. Follow on Twitter @TonyFintech.
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