AegisAI Series A raises $36 million for AI phishing defense
Battery Ventures led AegisAI’s $36 million Series A as companies look for new defenses against AI-written spear phishing emails.
By Theo Nakamura · Staff Writer
· 3 min read
AegisAI’s Series A gives the young cybersecurity startup $36 million to chase one of the messier problems in enterprise tech: AI-written spear phishing that can look personal, timely and legitimate. For retail investors watching the private AI security market, the round is another sign that venture money is flowing toward tools built to counter AI-assisted attacks with AI-based defenses.
The funding was led by Battery Ventures, with Accel and Foundation Capital joining as existing backers, according to TechCrunch. The round brings AegisAI’s total funding to $49 million.
AegisAI was started last year by Cy Khormaee and Ryan Luo, former Google security executives who worked on technologies including safe browsing and reCAPTCHA. The company says its product is already being used by dozens of customers, including crypto payments company Mash, AI startup LangChain and Lokker, a Google-owned privacy compliance platform.
What does AegisAI do?
AegisAI builds AI agents to review incoming email for signs of spear phishing. Spear phishing is a targeted scam in which an attacker uses personal or work-specific details to make a message look like it came from a trusted person or company.
The company’s pitch is that older email-security systems, which often depend on rule-based “if this, then that” checks, struggle when attackers can use AI to tailor each message. AI can collect clues about a target, such as co-workers, current projects or recent travel, and use them to write emails that feel credible.
Khormaee told TechCrunch that AI-assisted attacks now get around existing controls “more than half the time,” making them nearly twice as effective as before. He said attackers are researching targets and creating highly customized messages.
AegisAI says its agents examine messages more like a human investigator would, looking for context and small inconsistencies rather than only scanning for known red flags. Khormaee told TechCrunch the system can identify threats traditional filters may overlook, including malicious PDF attachments that appear normal and use passwords or CAPTCHAs to evade spam filters.
Why Battery Ventures backed the round
Battery Ventures general partner Dharmesh Thakker told TechCrunch he started looking for a company that could use AI to defend against AI-driven email attacks after seeing more attempted email compromises. He said defending against AI-powered email threats is becoming a top priority for many companies.
The investment also puts AegisAI into a crowded security market. TechCrunch noted that Lightspeed-backed Ocean is also using AI to evaluate the context of incoming emails and detect impersonation or fraud attempts. Established companies such as Proofpoint and Mimecast, along with newer players including Abnormal Security, are also part of the competitive field.
Thakker told TechCrunch that AegisAI’s Google security background gives it a strong shot at becoming a leading company in hack prevention, citing the founders’ work helping secure Gmail.
AegisAI is beginning with email, but Khormaee said the company expects to expand into other security areas, including data security. He told TechCrunch that building specialized agents capable of conducting investigations will help determine which companies lead the next phase of cybersecurity.
This story draws on original reporting from TechCrunch.
