Efani has sold its secure cellphone service to thousands of customers, all by word of mouth.
The service replaces a client’s existing carrier with its service, which the company guarantees cannot be hacked, tracked or SIM-swapped, its Sacramento-based founder and CEO told the Business Journal.
“We ensure that no one can hack your phone,” CEO Haseeb Awan said.
Efani also makes it more difficult for hackers to remotely swap out SIM cards, or subscriber identity modules. SIM-swapping is a common hack that targets a customer’s carrier, coupled with phishing or other forms of identity theft.
In 2013, Awan was a co-founder of Bitaccess, based in Ottawa, Ontario. Bitaccess deployed more than 6,000 Bitcoin automated teller machines in 15 countries. Awan left the company in 2015, but because of his stature in the cryptocurrency world, his personal smartphone got hacked four times.
A telecom engineer, Awan decided he could build a more secure phone network. He built the secure system for himself, and then he launched Efani in the fall of 2019.
Its clients tend to be attorneys, bankers, investment bankers and cryptocurrency devotees. The company charges $99 a month for its basic service, which includes $5 million in insurance coverage against hacks, according to Efani's website.
In addition to the security, Efani doesn’t sell user information to outside parties, Awan said. A premium service Efani offers also lets users know if people are trying to spy on them.
The company lists its headquarters as San Francisco, but that is basically a mail drop. Awan has lived in Sacramento since 2019. Efani’s 15 employees work virtually, mostly in the U.S., he said. The company is largely self-funded, but it did take a seed round of $2.5 million in venture capital. Efani could raise more money this year to expand, Awan said.
Awan was moving from Toronto to San Francisco three years ago when a friend invited him to visit in Sacramento. Awan ended up moving here instead of San Francisco because he liked the area, he said.
Awan recently joined the Sacramento Angels, a group of angel investors, said Dave Sanders, membership director with the group. Awan is already an active investor, with more than 50 investments, mostly in blockchain-related businesses, he said.
