Privacy-first mobile carrier Cape announced it raised $61 million in funding led by A* and Andreessen Horowitz. And XYZ Ventures, ex/ante, Costanoa Ventures, Point72 Ventures, Forward Deployed VC, and Karman Ventures also joined the funding round. Cape will use this funding round to build a nationwide mobile network that offers premium wireless coverage, which masks personal identifying information like names, numbers, and locations (unlike traditional carriers).
Hackers have been able to use telecommunications networks to collect personal information, pinpoint users’ locations, and implement spyware, jeopardizing freedom of the press, human rights, and national security. For example, Russia’s use of cellular networks to hack NATO officials and target Ukrainian troops has shown the relevance of these vulnerabilities to modern conflict.
Cape’s founder and CEO John Doyle recognized the weaknesses of cellular networks as head of tech giant Palantir’s national security business. And he saw that the threat applies to government organizations and everyone who uses a smartphone. Launched in 2022, Cape partners with leading public, private, and academic research institutions to create a robust cellular network that protects users from cybersecurity threats.
As one of the only independent, full-network Mobile Virtual Network Operators in America, Cape can provide premium cellular service without the privacy sacrifices linked to typical phone plans. And customers also get spam protection, hardened account security, a stringent firewall, and malicious signaling protection.
Cape will also offer superior reliability as the first consumer cellular service to be built on top of UScellular’s enterprise-grade multicarrier full MVNO Revolution infrastructure. Combining 12 separate national and regional cellular networks, it forms the country’s densest overlapping coverage to maximize resilience.
KEY QUOTES:
“Telecom is one of the largest and most antiquated industries on the planet. Cape’s privacy-first architecture meets a growing need in the market for secure communications across consumers, businesses, and government.”
– Kevin Hartz, General Partner of A*
“These are not only life and death questions for our nation’s defenders but are also increasingly on the minds of everyday people, whose phones are with them through nearly every moment of their day. We are tackling an enormous set of problems that exist due to the rise of smartphones and mobile networks as a primary avenue to accessing the Internet. We can’t leak what we don’t have. That’s privacy by design, and it’s how we enable connection without compromise.”
– John Doyle, Cape CEO
“We’re excited to work with Cape to deliver a wireless experience that keeps people connected securely wherever they are.”
– Kim Kerr, senior vice president, enterprise sales and operations for UScellular
“UScellular has built a highly differentiated network for their quickly growing industrial and commercial business. We are the first to layer voice service on top of it, and are excited to offer premium access on this unique, resilient network to our subscribers.”
– John Doyle, Cape CEO
“Cape’s technology is an answer to long-standing, critical vulnerabilities in today’s telecom infrastructure that impacts everything from homeland security to consumer privacy. The team is the first to apply this caliber of R&D muscle to rethinking legacy telecom networks, and are well placed to reshape the way mobile carriers think about their subscribers – as customers instead of products.”
– Katherine Boyle, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
