AegisAI Raises $36 Million to Combat AI-Powered Spear Phishing

San Francisco, CA – AegisAI, an email security company, announced it has raised $36 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Battery Ventures and included participation from existing investors Accel and Foundation Capital. The funding aims to combat the escalating threat of AI-powered email attacks.

The investment comes amid a significant surge in AI-generated spear phishing. These advanced attacks leverage large language models (LLMs) to gather personal information and craft highly targeted lures designed to trick recipients into divulging sensitive data, downloading malware, or transferring funds. Recent analysis indicates a fivefold increase in AI-generated phishing emails over the past year, with these sophisticated messages bypassing traditional filters at nearly double the rate of human-written attacks.

AegisAI's technology employs intelligent language models and a network of AI agents to detect and respond to email threats in real time. Company co-founder and CEO Cy Khormaee emphasized the inadequacy of traditional security measures against these new threats. "You cannot patch human trust," Khormaee stated. "If your security program still relies on template-based phishing tests and awareness training, you are training your people to spot last year’s threat, not a capable agent crafting a novel lure just for them."

The company highlights that AI has enabled a new level of precision and effectiveness in attacks, moving beyond sheer volume. The FBI reported record cybercrime losses of $20.8 billion last year, with business email compromise (BEC) attacks, which exploit identity rather than software, accounting for a significant portion. AegisAI is developing an "AI vs. AI" approach to counter these evolving threats.