Today, we’re excited to announce that Reinhard Ekl is joining Hyper as Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, becoming the company’s third co-founder alongside Ben Sanders (CEO) and Damian McCabe (CPO).

Scaling in public safety requires more than strong voice AI. It requires deep domain experience, integration fluency, and an operating discipline that earns trust.

Reinhard brings that track record. Over the past decade, he has helped scale two category-defining platforms in emergency communications:

- At RapidSOS, he helped bring more precise mobile location and rich data from connected devices and apps (smartphones, vehicles, wearables, platforms) into emergency communications centers, improving situational awareness for 9-1-1 professionals.

- At RapidDeploy, he scaled a cloud platform supporting 1,600+ PSAPs/ECCs, building operational muscle for real-world deployments and integrations across complex public safety environments.

- He’s also known for close partnership with the 9-1-1 community, collaborating through industry organizations like NENA, APCO, IWCE, and the 9-1-1 Early Adopters Coalition.

Ben and Damian bring deep experience in GovTech, Voice AI, and technology startups.

Reinhard adds the 9-1-1 operating playbook: how to integrate into real comm center workflows, how to deploy safely, and how to scale with credibility.

As COO & Co-Founder, Reinhard will focus on:

- Operational scale and delivery discipline for mission-critical customers

- Accelerating integrations across the 9-1-1 technology stack

- Building customer success and partnerships with a dispatcher-first mindset