Our Story
Who We Are
A company founded on a conviction: that being connected to the internet and being protected from it shouldn't have to be a trade-off.
Born from
a simple refusal.
Vahci was founded in 2026 when I asked a question that had no good answer: why does using the internet require surrendering so much of yourself to it? Why are we OK with being the product? With letting our children be the product?
I am a mechanical engineer by trade, but I believe in this, and I am partnering with the excellent technical talent to do something about it. Not just for the tech guy, but for the everyman. For me. For you.
We envision a world where you don't have to be a monk to not sell your soul to big tech. Not a privacy product for tech experts. Not a device so locked-down it's unusable. A genuinely beautiful, genuinely capable platform that families could trust completely — and own completely.
That's Vahci. That's why we're here.
I am a mechanical engineer by trade, but I believe in this, and I am partnering with the excellent technical talent to do something about it. Not just for the tech guy, but for the everyman. For me. For you.
We envision a world where you don't have to be a monk to not sell your soul to big tech. Not a privacy product for tech experts. Not a device so locked-down it's unusable. A genuinely beautiful, genuinely capable platform that families could trust completely — and own completely.
That's Vahci. That's why we're here.
What We Believe
The convictions
that guide everything.
01
Families are owners, not users
The language matters. A "user" is someone who consumes a service. An "owner" is someone who possesses something of lasting value. We build for owners. That means every feature, every pricing decision, every update is designed to increase your ownership — not our leverage.
02
Longevity is a form of respect
Planned obsolescence is a disrespect disguised as a product cycle. When we engineer a device to last a decade — and commit to supporting it — we're making a statement about what we think of our customers. You deserve tools that age with you, not tools designed to expire.
03
Privacy is a right, not a feature
We don't sell privacy protection as an upgrade tier. We don't offer it as a premium benefit over a free ad-supported tier. Privacy is the floor — the baseline expectation that every Drift member has by default, because anything less isn't a privacy product at all.
04
Trust is earned, not claimed
We don't ask you to trust us because we say we're trustworthy. We ask you to observe what we do, consistently, over time. Our code is auditable. Our privacy practices are independently verified. Our commitments are in writing. Trust is the conclusion, not the sales pitch.
05
Repair is the right to ownership
If you can't repair something, you don't really own it. You're renting it from the manufacturer until they decide your version is obsolete. We reject that model entirely. Every Vahci device ships with a full repair manual and modular components you can swap yourself or take to any repair shop.
06
Joy is not a luxury
We've watched too many "serious" privacy products sacrifice usability for security theatre, producing tools that protect but don't delight. Vahci is the proof that you don't have to choose. Software can be rigorous and warm. Hardware can be durable and beautiful. We refuse the trade-off.
The Founders
The people
behind the platform.
A small team who gave up comfortable careers to build the thing they couldn't buy.
RD
Rand Dickson
CEO & Co-Founder
Previously a mechanical engineer at McMillan, an electric motor designer and manufacturer, making motors right here in Wisconsin. Building Vahci to have something he could be proud to show his daughters.
RJ
Ricky Jenkens
Server guru
Ricky brings a deep background in open-source systems, custom automation, and hardware configuration to our technical operations. He manages backend hosting logistics and ongoing system maintenance to keep Vahci's digital platforms running smoothly.
YU
You
Various rolls
Visit our Careers page to see open positions!
The Journey
How we
got here.
2026
The Founding
Rand begins building in the heart of the country, Eau Claire, WI. The founding charter commits to our principles that cannot be traded: sovereignty, privacy, longevity, and joy.
June 2026
VPN Launch
Work begins on our first product: an Android VPN. It's in development and not ready for anyone outside the workshop yet.
Early 2027
Vahci Cloud Launch
A self-hosted cloud suite built on Nextcloud — files, sync, and storage that belong to your household rather than to a platform. In development now, alongside three apps we're building to run on top of it.
Late 2027
Beta Program
Once the VPN rework and the cloud suite are ready, we plan to open a beta to a small group of founding families — real households using it day to day, telling us what's wrong before anyone else has to find out.
2028
Public Launch
The goal we're building toward: open Vahci to anyone who wants the internet on their own terms. Not a date we forced, but a product we're proud to hand someone.
Want to build
this with us?
We're a growing team that takes its values seriously. Come work on something that matters.
