The Fire Awards: Cape

Editor's note: Each year, DC Inno and the Washington Business Journal publish the Fire Awards spotlighting the founders, funders and fast-growing companies helping to power Greater Washington’s innovation economy. Click here to read our other profiles.

Cape is looking to shake up the concept of privacy in the mobile cellular industry as it works to redefine how personal data is handled, especially in an era when the selling of this information continues to become more and more lucrative for mobile carriers.

Unlike traditional telecom companies, Cape does not collect personal information such as names, addresses or Social Security numbers for access to its network, which it offers via licensed access to premium 4G and 5G spectrum from the nation’s leading mobile carriers.

Instead, Cape stores sensitive credentials locally on the user’s device, minimizing the risk of data breaches, like the AT&T data breach in April that affected nearly all its cellular customers.

Such an approach has already garnered significant attention, positioning the startup as a leader in the privacy-first mobile service sector.

Since emerging from stealth in January, Cape has initiated a pilot project with the U.S. Navy to help secure communications on Guam, showcasing its potential to handle high-stakes, sensitive communications. This project also underscores Cape’s capability and ambition to provide secure, reliable mobile services on a larger scale.

But to do so, it needs to expand its workforce. The company employs 41 workers across its Rosslyn headquarters and an office in New York and it aims to hit 60 employees by year’s end. The hiring effort began following the close of its recent $61 million funding round led by prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Looking ahead, CEO and founder John Doyle, a former Palantir executive with a background in national security, is preparing the revenue-producing startup’s commercial launch to consumers later this year.

“We’re motivated at the prospect of giving people control over their mobile identities so they can remain connected and live their lives without compromising their privacy or security,” he said.

Cape