Cape

Cape is a privacy-first mobile network operator that runs its own mobile core and issues its own SIMs while leasing physical tower capacity from established carriers. That architecture is the point: because Cape controls the core network rather than reselling access to it under a traditional MVNO deal, it can embed protections directly into the network layer instead of bolting them onto a consumer app. The company rotates SIM identifiers daily to blunt persistent device tracking, filters SS7-based signaling attacks used for covert location tracking and call/SMS interception, and minimizes the subscriber data it collects and retains in the first place, including keeping credentials on-device rather than centralized on Cape’s servers.

The target customer set spans privacy-conscious consumers, enterprises with executives or field staff who present an elevated surveillance target profile, and government users. Cape’s founding team has direct experience with the threat model it is selling against: CEO John Doyle spent roughly nine years leading Palantir’s national security business and served in U.S. Army Special Forces, and cofounder Nicholas Espinoza also came out of Palantir. That background shaped a product built explicitly around resisting SIM-swap fraud, SS7 exploitation, and cell-site simulator (IMSI-catcher) style surveillance, categories of attack that conventional carriers largely leave unaddressed at the network layer.

Cape raised a $100 million Series C co-led by Bain Capital Ventures and IVP, bringing total funding to $191 million, a substantial war chest for a company whose core cost structure includes real telecom infrastructure (spectrum agreements, core network operations, SIM issuance) rather than pure software. It has taken public positions aligned with the privacy community, including a partnership with Proton, sponsorship of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and support for GrapheneOS, though those affiliations are marketing and community signaling rather than independently audited security claims.