GetReal's $18M Funding and Client List Prove AI Deepfake Success

The rise of AI has brought with it a troubling side effect: deepfakes that are scarily realistic. These fakes are already costing companies millions through scams, and the potential impact on national security is downright chilling. But there's a glimmer of hope on the horizon. A startup called GetReal, co-founded by deepfake detection pioneer Hany Farid, is stepping up to the plate. They've just announced a hefty $17.5 million in funding, and they're ready to roll out their tools to help governments and businesses fight back against these digital imposters in audio, video, and images.

GetReal's not just sitting on their cash, though. They're putting it to good use, pouring it into research and development, hiring new talent, and expanding their business. And they're launching their forensics platform as a service, complete with a user-friendly web interface, an API, and ways to integrate media analysis into your operations. They've got a threat exposure dashboard, an "Inspect" tool to keep high-profile execs safe from being spoofed, a "Protect" tool to screen media, and a "Respond" feature where GetReal's human teams dive deep into the analysis.

Leading the charge in this Series A round is Forgepoint Capital, with a focus on cybersecurity and AI. They're joined by Ballistic Ventures, Evolution Equity, and K2 Access Fund. Ballistic's a big deal here—they incubated GetReal from 2022 until it went public in June 2024, and they also led the startup's $7 million seed round, which included some heavy hitters like Venrock and Artisanal. And get this: Ballistic's founder, Ted Schlein, is not only the chairman but also a co-founder of GetReal. Before Ballistic, he was at the helm of Kleiner Perkins, so he knows his stuff.

Hany as a service

GetReal's diving into the cybersecurity world, specifically the fast-growing field of cyber-forensics. They're tackling a real gap in the market—the lack of skilled people in this area. Matt Moynahan, GetReal's CEO, put it bluntly: "If you think cybersecurity has a shortage of people, get ready for forensics." Moynahan's no newbie; he's got three decades of experience leading big names like Symantec and Forcepoint.

He's seen it all, but he says deepfakes are a whole new level of threat. "To be honest, I don’t think I’ve seen a threat this ubiquitous," he said. He compared them to viruses, calling those a "novel threat" in contrast. The problem's not just those "fun" deepfake apps; it's also how we work now, with businesses moving almost entirely online and into the cloud. Phishing's shown us that even smart people can fall for tricks, and it's a scary sign of where things might be headed.

GetReal's the brainchild of Hany Farid, a well-known academic at UC Berkeley and a pioneer in spotting doctored digital images. He's been informally helping media organizations and legal teams with this stuff for years. In 2022, he teamed up with Schlein to turn his investigative process into a business. Moynahan said, "No one’s peering into this the way that Hany does. But Hany can’t scale. So we basically took Hany and tried to create a ‘Hany service’ in the cloud."

Farid pointed out that while they're constantly reverse-engineering new apps, a lot of their tech is based on techniques developed 20 years ago that still work today. He's keeping the details under wraps, though, saying, "You don’t have to tell people everything we do, but it’s complicated to get right."

The Signal effect: Text still to come

The Series A round also includes some big names like Cisco Investments, Capital One Ventures, and In-Q-Tel, which is closely tied to the CIA. These investors reflect the kinds of companies that are already using or interested in GetReal's product, according to Alberto Yépez from Forgepoint, who led the investment.

During due diligence, Yépez found that heavily regulated industries like finance were already looking for something like this, with CISOs getting mandates from their boards. "They raised the issue [of deepfaked impersonations] after their CEOs had been put into voice interviews," he said. They were both impersonated and tricked by impersonations. John Deere and Visa are among the named customers.

As for government work, Yépez said, "They also have some priorities in the space." These priorities include intelligence agencies and officials being tricked into acting or not acting based on fake info from bad actors.

But there's one area GetReal's not tackling yet: text-based impersonations. This week, the editor of The Atlantic was added to a Signal group chat planning a military attack in Yemen, initially thinking it was a hoax. Turns out, it was very real and a major national security breach.

Farid said text isn't in GetReal's scope right now. "It is a different beast," he said. But down the line, they plan to expand to cover all kinds of deepfake and impersonation threats.