Caution SEZC is building a secure hosting platform that helps organisations verify that their software is running as intended. Founded by Anton Livaja, Ksenia Lesko and Lance Vick, the company joined Y Combinator’s Summer 2026 batch, bringing its approach to confidential computing to a global network of founders and investors.
We caught up with Anton to discuss the experience, the lessons that shaped Caution’s next phase, and how building from Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) has supported the company’s ambitions.
Q: What surprised you most about building a global technology company from Cayman?
Anton Livaja: One of the biggest surprises was how little being based in Cayman limits a globally focused company. Its proximity to the US, time-zone alignment and business environment make it practical to work internationally. Just as importantly, CEC’s network of entrepreneurs, operators and investors has created valuable opportunities for Caution.
Q: What led you to apply to Y Combinator (YC), and what do you think made Caution stand out?
Anton Livaja: We spent years working on security-critical infrastructure and had experienced the challenges of confidential computing firsthand, as the existing tools were difficult to work with and didn't provide the level of verifiability we thought was necessary. By the time we applied to YC, we had a working platform, a clear problem to solve and a conviction that verifiable computing could become foundational internet infrastructure. I believe what resonated with YC was the combination of technical expertise, direct experience, and the opportunity to build something bigger than a niche security product.
Q: How did the YC experience change the way you approached building Caution?
Anton Livaja: YC reinforced the importance of focus and speed. We became more deliberate about prioritising problems that matter to customers, shortening feedback loops and making the product easier to adopt. The long-term vision has not changed, but the emphasis is now on getting the technology into more hands sooner.
We're a deeply technical company, and there's no shortage of interesting engineering problems we could spend our time solving. The challenge is making sure we're focused on the problems that matter most to our customers.
Q: What assumption was challenged the most during the programme?
Anton Livaja: One important lesson was that technical strength alone does not guarantee that customers understand a product’s value. Caution’s technology involves complex concepts such as cryptographic verification and hardware security, but customers need to understand what it means for their business financially. We then focused on making its security guarantees easier to access without requiring customers to become security specialists.
Q: As a company building deep infrastructure across confidential computing, AI and security, how did you communicate Caution’s technology at Demo Day?
Anton Livaja: We focused on the problem rather than the technology: the difficulty of verifying what software is actually running on their infrastructure. Caution helps organisations deploy software in secure environments and cryptographically verify that it matches the intended source code. Our simpler description captures that value: “a secure hosting platform for software you can't afford to have hacked.”
Q: How did being part of the Cayman Enterprise City (CEC) ecosystem complement the YC experience?
Anton Livaja: CEC provided a strong foundation in Cayman and access to a connected local network, with relationships that have led to partnerships and investment. YC added a global network of founders, investors and operators, alongside an intense focus on growth for our business. For Caution, the two have worked together: joining YC did not mean leaving our Cayman relationships behind.
Beyond practical business setup, community is most valuable. Relationships with founders/operators/investors led to real opportunities, partnerships and investment.
Q: What does the next phase look like for Caution, technically and commercially?
Anton Livaja: The team is working to make verifiable computing as accessible as conventional cloud infrastructure. That includes expanding support across hardware environments, with work towards AMD SEV-SNP and Intel TDX, alongside broader multi-cloud, bare-metal and GPU-backed workloads. Commercially, we are focusing on adoption in sectors including financial services, digital assets and AI applications that are handling sensitive data.
Q: What would you say to other founders considering building a technology company from Cayman?
Anton Livaja: I would encourage founders to look beyond Cayman’s traditional reputation as a financial centre. There is a growing technology community here, and CEC provides a way to become part of it. Beyond making it easier to establish and grow a globally focused technology company, we have found real value in the community itself.
Cayman is also a beautiful place to live and build a business, with no winters!
Caution SEZC’s journey through Y Combinator highlights the opportunities available to ambitious technology businesses building from Cayman. With a global network, a growing local community and a clear vision for the future of secure computing, the team is continuing to develop technology that could help shape the next generation of digital infrastructure.
Thank you to Anton Livaja and the Caution SEZC team for sharing their experience with us.