Deepfake detection platform Reality Defender closed a $33 million Series A funding round on Monday. Part of Y Combinator’s 2022 cohort, Reality Defender aims to combat growing threats posed by AI-generated content and deepfakes.
Led by Illuminate Financial, the funding round also saw participation from Booz Allen Hamilton, IBM Ventures, the Jefferies Family Office, and Accenture. Series A lead investor DCVC also joined the funding round, along with previously existing investors Partnership for New York City and Y Combinator.
A little over a week prior to the funding round, Reality Defender won the 2024’s SINET16 Innovator Award. SINET or Security Innovation Network is a private venture support program which recognizes 16 emerging companies, known as the SINET16 Innovators, with the most innovative and compelling technologies to address cybersecurity challenges. Early this year, Reality Defender was also named “Most innovative startup” at the 2024 RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox.
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Founded in 2021, the cybersecurity startup’s mission is to provide cutting-edge deepfake detection solutions as new methods of malicious deepfakes using generative AI are being created and deployed in the market.
The cybersecurity threat of deepfakes has impacted enterprises, digital platforms, and entire nations and Reality Defender believes innovation is key to keeping pace with the latest deepfake threats designed to perpetrate fraud, commit serious security breaches, and spread disinformation.
Reality Defender offers robust solutions to detect deepfakes across all media formats including audio, video, images, and text. So far, industries like finance, government and media have benefitted from Reality Defender’s technology.
The founding team consisting of CEO Ben Colman, Gaurav Bharaj, and Ali Shahriyari, spent over 20 years at Google, Goldman Sachs, and the Intelligence Community at the intersection of data science and cybersecurity.
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Colman, who has over 15 years of technical and entrepreneurial experience, worked at Google, Goldman Sachs, Y Combinator among others in various capacities.
Bharaj, who holds a PhD in Computer Science from Harvard University, wants to ”harness generative AI to empower and enhance human lives.” Previously, he held leadership roles at Flawless, The AI Foundation, and Technicolor.
Shahriyari is a UCLA alum with over 25 years of experience in software development including executive-level roles at The AI Foundation and Originate. He also co-founded a women’s fashion company called Thrive in 2006.
“In an era where advancements in AI make it impossible for any one person to differentiate between reality from fabrication, we stand ready to do our part in turning the tide of AI-driven disinformation,” Colman wrote in a blog post announcing the company’s funding.