Caution (YC S26) — Hosting platform for software you don't want to have hacked

In their words

Caution is a hosting platform for software you can't afford to get hacked. It simplifies and extends confidential compute, and lets developers deploy workloads to secure enclaves in minutes and give customers, auditors, and counterparties cryptographic proof that production is running the exact reviewed source code, build, configuration, and runtime - not an opaque binary controlled by a cloud operator or internal admin. Confidential computing hardware exists, but the tooling is too fragmented and incomplete for most teams to use well. Today, attestation often proves only that a binary has a certain hash; it does not prove what source code produced that binary. Building the missing deployment, reproducibility, and verification layer requires specialized security engineering and often locks teams into one cloud or hardware stack. Caution turns that into a simple git-based workflow that builds reproducible enclave images, provisions infrastructure, and lets anyone independently verify what is running. We built Caution after years securing high-risk systems through Distrust, where we worked with hedge funds, custodians, blockchain teams, cloud platforms, and critical grid operators on systems responsible for more than $600B in assets. Again and again, the same problem showed up: teams running mission-critical infrastructure could not reliably prove what was executing in production. As AI, fintech, healthcare, and regulated data collaboration move into the cloud, "trust us" is no longer enough. Caution is a general-purpose platform: if it runs on a server, it can run verifiably on Caution. We're starting where trust failures cost the most, but we believe verifiable compute will become the default way software runs, the same way HTTPS became the default way it's served. Infrastructure you can verify, not trust.

Checked away from the directory entry. What is below does not come from the company's Y Combinator page.

Anton Livaja

Founder/CEO

Co-founder/CEO of Caution (YC S26). We give teams a hosting platform to run sensitive workloads in secure enclaves and cryptographically prove what code is running in prod. Previously co-founded Distrust, securing systems for hedge funds, custodians, and critical infra responsible for $600B+ in assets. Deep in confidential computing, supply chain security, and applied cryptography. Mission: improve the freedom, security, and privacy of as many people as possible.

Ksenia Lesko

Founder

Co-founder at Caution, where we help teams run sensitive workloads in secure enclaves and cryptographically prove what code is running in production. I lead the business and product side; previously ran strategy and ops at Distrust (distrust.co) and led customer education and activation at Ada (ada.cx).

Lance Vick

Founder/CTO

Technology sovereignty maximalist. Lead security architect at Caution. Former security lead at Turnkey, BitGo, Unit 410, Pebble. Founded Stagex Linux distribution, and #! decentralized hackerspace. Experienced in Linux hardening, privacy, software engineering, security auditing, cryptographic key management, tamper evidence, HSMs, and supply chain security. Frequently internet infamous for exposing security negligence. Prolific mechanical puzzle collector, lockpicker, and hardware hacker.

Founders, titles and bios as the company published them. Photographs are our own copies of the ones on that record, so they do not break when the original link expires.