Is that really your boss calling? Jericho Security raises $15M to stop deepfake fraud that’s cost businesses $200M in 2025 alone

New York-based Jericho Security has secured $15 million in Series A funding to scale its AI-powered cybersecurity training platform. The investment, announced today, follows the company’s successful five-month execution of a $1.8 million Department of Defense contract that put the two-year-old startup on the cybersecurity map.

“Within minutes, a sophisticated attacker can now create a voice clone that sounds exactly like your CFO requesting an urgent wire transfer,” said Sage Wohns, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Jericho Security, in an exclusive interview with VentureBeat. “Traditional cybersecurity training simply hasn’t kept pace with these threats.”

The funding round was led by Jasper Lau at Era Fund, who previously backed the company’s $3 million seed round in August 2023. Additional investors include Lux Capital, Dash Fund, Gaingels Enterprise Fund and Gaingels AI Fund, Distique Ventures, Plug & Play Ventures, and several specialized venture firms.

Military cybersecurity contract established credibility in competitive market

Jericho’s profile rose significantly last November when the Pentagon selected the company for its first generative AI defense contract. The $1.8 million award through AFWERX, the innovation arm of the Air Force, charged Jericho with protecting military personnel from increasingly sophisticated phishing attacks.

“There was a highly publicized spear-phishing attack targeting Air Force drone pilots using fake user manuals,” Wohns noted in an earlier interview. The incident underscored how even highly trained personnel can fall victim to carefully crafted deception.

This federal contract helped Jericho stand out in a crowded cybersecurity market where established players like KnowBe4, Proofpoint, and Cofense dominate. Industry analysts value the security awareness training sector at $5 billion annually, with projected growth to $10 billion by 2027 as organizations increasingly recognize human vulnerability as their primary security weakness.

How AI fights AI: Automated adversaries that learn employee weaknesses

Unlike conventional security training that relies on static templates and predictable scenarios, Jericho’s platform employs what Wohns calls “agentic AI” — autonomous systems that behave like actual attackers.

“If an employee ignores a suspicious email, our system might follow up with a text message that appears to come from their manager,” Wohns explained. “Just like real attackers, our AI adapts to behavior, learning which approaches work best against specific individuals.”

This multi-channel approach addresses a fundamental limitation of traditional security training: most programs prepare employees for yesterday’s attacks, not tomorrow’s. Jericho’s simulations can span email, voice, text messaging, and even video calls, creating personalized attack scenarios based on an employee’s role, behavior patterns, and previous responses.

The company’s client dashboard shows which employees fall for which types of attacks, allowing organizations to deliver targeted remediation. Early data suggests that employees trained with adaptive, AI-driven simulations are 64% less likely to fall for actual phishing attempts than those who receive traditional security awareness training.

Singapore CFO loses $500,000 to deepfake executive impersonation

The financial stakes of these new threats became clear in a case Wohns highlighted involving a finance executive deceived by artificially generated versions of company leadership.

“A CFO in Singapore was deceived into transferring nearly $500,000 during a video call that appeared to include the company’s CEO and other executives,” Wohns recounted. “Unbeknownst to the CFO, these participants were AI-generated deepfakes, crafted using publicly available videos and recordings.”

The attack began with a seemingly innocent WhatsApp message requesting an urgent Zoom meeting. During the call, the deepfake avatars persuaded the CFO to authorize the transfer. Only when the attackers attempted to extract more funds did suspicions arise, eventually involving authorities who recovered the initial transfer.

Such incidents are becoming alarmingly common. According to Resemble AI’s Q1 2025 Deepfake Incident Report, financial losses from deepfake-enabled fraud exceeded $200 million globally during just the first quarter of 2025. The report found that North America experienced the highest number of incidents (38%), followed by Asia (27%) and Europe (21%).

Industry reports have documented staggering growth rates in recent years, with some studies showing deepfake fraud attempts increasing by more than 1,700% in North America and exceeding 2,000% in certain European financial sectors.

New threat horizon: When AI systems attack other AI systems

Wohns identified an even more concerning emerging threat that few security teams are prepared for: “AI agents phishing AI agents.”

“As AI tools proliferate inside companies from customer support chatbots to internal automations, attackers are beginning to target and exploit these agents directly,” he explained. “It’s no longer just humans being deceived. AI systems are now both the targets and the unwitting accomplices of compromise.”

This represents a fundamental shift in the cybersecurity landscape. When organizations deploy AI assistants that can access internal systems, approve requests, or provide information, they create new attack surfaces that traditional security approaches don’t address.

Self-service platform opens access to smaller businesses as attack targets broaden

While major enterprises have long been primary targets for sophisticated attacks, smaller organizations are increasingly finding themselves in cybercriminals’ crosshairs. Recognizing this trend, Jericho has launched a self-service platform that allows companies to deploy AI-powered security training without the enterprise sales cycle.

“The self-service registration is in addition to our enterprise sales approach,” Wohns said. “Self-Service is designed to provide no-touch/low-touch for Small to Medium Businesses.”

Users can sign up for a seven-day free trial and explore the product without sales meetings. This approach stands in contrast to industry norms, where cybersecurity solutions typically involve lengthy procurement processes and high-touch sales approaches.

Future-proofing security as AI capabilities accelerate

The $15 million investment will primarily fund three initiatives: expanding research and development, scaling go-to-market strategies through partnerships, and growing Jericho’s team with a focus on AI and cybersecurity talent.

“One of our biggest technical challenges has been keeping pace with the rapid evolution of AI itself,” said Wohns. “The tools, models, and techniques are improving at an extraordinary rate, which means our architecture needs to be flexible enough to adapt quickly.”

Early customers have responded enthusiastically to Jericho’s approach. “Customers have been exceedingly frustrated at the lack of innovation with incumbent solutions and the subsequent decline in efficacy,” Wohns noted. “Within 30 days, customers identify vulnerabilities across multiple channels and build highly personalized and dynamic remediation programs based on contemporary threats and techniques.”

As the boundaries between human and machine communications blur, the very nature of trust in digital environments is being redefined. The executive on a video call, the urgent email from IT support, or the customer service chatbot might not be what they appear. In this new reality, Jericho Security is betting that the best defense isn’t just teaching employees to be suspicious — it’s showing them exactly how they’ll be deceived before the real attackers get the chance