The digital landscape is currently witnessing a paradigm shift in cyber threats, moving from traditional data breaches to the sophisticated manipulation of human identity. Generative AI has democratized the ability to create hyper-realistic synthetic media, leading to what security experts now define as the deepfake epidemic. As financial losses attributed to deepfakes surpassed $1.6 billion in 2025 alone, the demand for enterprise-grade detection has transitioned from a specialized requirement to a foundational necessity. In response to this escalating crisis, GetReal Security, a pioneer in digital integrity, has successfully closed a $17.5 million Series A funding round, signaling a significant milestone in the defense against AI-powered impersonation.

The Strategic Injection of 17.5 Million in Series A Capital

The recent $17.5 million funding round serves as a powerful validation of GetReal Security’s technological approach and market position. Led by Forgepoint Capital, a premier venture firm specializing in cybersecurity and AI, the round also saw significant participation from Ballistic Ventures, Evolution Equity, and K2 Access Fund. What distinguishes this funding event is the inclusion of strategic institutional investors that represent the most regulated and high-stakes sectors of the economy.

Strategic participants include Cisco Investments, Capital One Ventures, and In-Q-Tel (IQT), the venture arm serving the U.S. Intelligence Community. The involvement of IQT particularly highlights the national security implications of deepfake technology, where synthetic media can be weaponized for disinformation or to breach high-level government communications. This Series A follows a successful $7 million seed round led by Ballistic Ventures, bringing the total capital raised by the startup to over $24 million.

The capital infusion is earmarked for three primary pillars of growth:

  1. Accelerated Research and Development: Advancing the core detection algorithms to stay ahead of increasingly complex generative models, including those capable of real-time video morphing.
  2. Product Suite Expansion: Enhancing the "GetReal Protect" platform to offer deeper integrations with existing enterprise ecosystems like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and identity management frameworks.
  3. Global Go-to-Market Strategy: Scaling sales and support operations to meet the rising demand from multinational corporations, financial institutions, and government agencies that are currently under siege from synthetic fraud.

The Architects of Truth: The Founding Story of GetReal

The credibility of a cybersecurity startup often rests on the expertise of its founders, and GetReal Security is built on a foundation of academic and venture capital excellence. The company was co-founded by Dr. Hany Farid and Ted Schlein, two figures who bring vastly different but complementary strengths to the table.

Dr. Hany Farid, currently a professor at UC Berkeley, is widely recognized as a pioneer in digital forensics. For decades, his work has focused on the detection of altered media, long before the term "deepfake" entered the common lexicon. His transition from academia to a founding role at GetReal signifies a move to translate theoretical detection models into scalable, real-time enterprise solutions. Dr. Farid’s presence provides the company with "forensic-grade" authority, ensuring that the detection methods are rooted in rigorous scientific principles rather than just superficial pattern matching.

Ted Schlein, a general partner at Ballistic Ventures and a former executive at Kleiner Perkins, provides the commercial and strategic vision. Having spent years at the intersection of venture capital and cybersecurity, Schlein recognized that the emergence of generative AI would render traditional identity verification methods obsolete. Under their joint leadership, GetReal was incubated within Ballistic Ventures for two years before emerging from stealth, ensuring the product was battle-tested against real-world threats before its wider release.

Why Traditional Authentication Is Failing in the Age of Generative AI

To understand the value proposition of GetReal, one must first recognize the fundamental flaw in current digital security: the "point-in-time" check. Most modern identity and access management (IAM) systems rely on a single moment of authentication. A user provides a password, clears a biometric scan, or enters a one-time code. Once the "gate" is open, the system assumes the identity remains constant and authentic for the duration of the session.

In the era of generative AI, this logic is dangerously outdated. Attackers can now use real-time deepfake technology to bypass biometric gates during the initial enrollment or to hijack a session after authentication. If a malicious actor can simulate the voice and likeness of a CEO during a high-stakes Zoom call, a single initial login does nothing to prevent the subsequent fraudulent transaction or data leak.

CEO Matt Moynahan has described this shift as moving from a "background check" to a "pre-ground check." The goal is to establish identity as a continuous variable rather than a static event. This is where GetReal’s flagship platform, GetReal Protect, enters the market as a disruptive force.

The Four Pillars of the GetReal Protect Platform

The GetReal Protect platform is designed to offer a holistic solution to synthetic media threats. Unlike simple detection tools that might only flag a suspicious video file, GetReal provides an integrated architecture categorized into four specific capabilities.

1. Multimodal Deepfake Detection

The platform analyzes media across multiple modes—audio, video, and image—simultaneously. It looks for technical artifacts that are invisible to the human eye but inherent in synthetic generation, such as inconsistencies in pixel lighting, unnatural facial muscle movements, or synthetic speech frequencies. The ability to detect manipulation in real-time during live streams is a critical differentiator for the company.

2. Impersonation Detection

Beyond identifying if a video is "fake," the system determines if the person presented matches the claimed identity. By comparing the live feed against enrolled, verified likenesses, the platform can flag instances where a genuine video is being used by an unauthorized person (such as a high-quality "re-broadcast" attack).

3. Continuous Identity Verification

This is the platform’s most significant innovation. GetReal Protect ensures that the person who begins a digital interaction is the same person who stays on the call. The verification persists at every moment. If the audio shifts to a synthetic generator mid-conversation, or if a "face-swap" filter is activated five minutes into a meeting, the security team is notified immediately.

4. Global Threat Intelligence

GetReal leverages a vast database of known threat actors and synthetic generation patterns. This allow the platform to provide contextual risk scores. For instance, if a specific deepfake tool is currently trending in cybercriminal forums, the platform’s algorithms are updated in real-time to recognize the specific signatures associated with that tool.

Enterprise Adoption: Why Visa and John Deere Are Moving to Pre-ground Checks

The theoretical risks of deepfakes have become practical realities for major corporations. Companies like Visa and John Deere have already integrated GetReal’s technology into their security stacks. These adoptions highlight two distinct but equally critical use cases.

For financial giants like Visa, the priority is preventing synthetic identity fraud. Attackers often create "Frankenstein" identities—combining real stolen data with AI-generated faces—to open fraudulent accounts or bypass KYC (Know Your Customer) protocols. GetReal provides an additional layer of assurance that the person on the other end of a transaction is a living, breathing, and verified human being.

For industrial leaders like John Deere, the threat often comes in the form of social engineering attacks targeting executives or high-level engineers. A deepfake call from a "superior" requesting a change in manufacturing protocols or the transfer of intellectual property can be devastating. By using GetReal’s integration with collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, these companies ensure that internal communications remain untampered.

The platform is built with enterprise friction in mind. It features over 40 native integrations with existing stacks, including Okta, Microsoft Entra, and CyberArk. This ensures that security teams can deploy deepfake protection without needing to rebuild their entire identity infrastructure.

The Socio-Economic Impact of Synthetic Identity Fraud

The rise of GetReal occurs against a backdrop of staggering economic loss. According to recent reports from LexisNexis, synthetic identity fraud is currently the fastest-growing type of fraud worldwide, increasing eightfold in 2025. The global fraud detection market is projected to expand from roughly $43 billion to over $217 billion by 2035, driven largely by the proliferation of AI-powered threats.

Deepfakes represent a unique societal challenge because they erode the foundational element of business: trust. When a video of a world leader, a CEO, or a family member can be fabricated in seconds with a $20-a-month subscription, the default state of digital interaction moves from "trust but verify" to "universal skepticism."

GetReal’s mission extends beyond just stopping fraud; it is about restoring the integrity of digital pixels and sound waves. By providing a scientific method to verify what is real, the company allows organizations to continue operating in a cloud-first, video-centric environment without the constant fear of being deceived by a machine.

Privacy and Compliance: Security Without Surveillance

A significant hurdle for any identity verification platform is the balance between security and privacy. Collecting biometric data for "continuous verification" naturally raises concerns about data ownership and surveillance.

GetReal has addressed these concerns by adopting a "privacy-first" architecture. The platform operates on a foundation of user consent. Verification does not occur unless the participants explicitly agree to the process. Furthermore, the data is owned by the individual, with GetReal acting merely as a custodian on behalf of the enterprise. This commitment to privacy is backed by rigorous certifications, including SOC 2 Type II, and full compliance with global regulations such as GDPR (Europe), CCPA/CPRA (California), and BIPA (Illinois).

By ensuring that individuals have the right to revoke consent or remove their data at any time, GetReal manages to provide high-level security without infringing on personal digital rights.

The Future Roadmap: Beyond Video and Audio Detection

While GetReal Security has established itself as a leader in audio and visual deepfake detection, the company’s vision is broader. The current Series A funding will support the expansion into text-based impersonation detection. As Large Language Models (LLMs) become more capable of mimicking a specific individual’s writing style, tone, and professional vocabulary, "text deepfakes" are becoming a new frontier for social engineering.

Future iterations of the platform are expected to analyze email chains, Slack messages, and other text-based communications to detect anomalies that suggest an AI bot is posing as a human employee. This holistic approach—covering pixels, waves, and words—is what led Gartner to label GetReal as a "Market Shaper" in its Emerging Market Quadrant for Deepfake Detection in mid-2026.

Summary: Restoring Trust in a Synthetic World

The successful $17.5 million Series A funding for GetReal Security marks a turning point in the AI arms race. As generative AI continues to lower the barrier for high-fidelity deception, the specialized expertise of figures like Dr. Hany Farid and the strategic backing of firms like Forgepoint Capital become essential assets for the global economy. By moving away from episodic authentication and toward continuous, multimodal verification, GetReal is providing the tools necessary to navigate a future where "seeing is no longer believing." The company’s growth reflects a broader realization among enterprises: in the age of AI, digital integrity is not just a feature—it is the bedrock of survival.

Frequently Asked Questions about GetReal AI Detection

What is GetReal Security's primary focus?

GetReal Security focuses on detecting and mitigating malicious generative AI threats, specifically deepfakes and impersonation attacks across audio, video, and images. They provide real-time, forensic-grade analysis for enterprises and government agencies.

Who are the investors in GetReal's Series A round?

The $17.5 million Series A round was led by Forgepoint Capital. Other participants included Ballistic Ventures, Evolution Equity, K2 Access Fund, Cisco Investments, Capital One Ventures, and In-Q-Tel (IQT).

How does "continuous identity verification" differ from standard MFA?

Standard Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) usually involves a single check at the start of a session (like a password or a face scan). GetReal’s continuous verification monitors the interaction throughout its entire duration, ensuring the identity remains authentic and hasn't been replaced by a deepfake mid-session.

Is GetReal's technology compatible with Zoom and Microsoft Teams?

Yes, GetReal Protect offers native integrations with major collaboration platforms including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex, as well as identity management tools like Okta and Microsoft Entra.

Who co-founded GetReal Security?

The company was co-founded by Dr. Hany Farid, a renowned digital forensics expert and professor at UC Berkeley, and Ted Schlein, a general partner at Ballistic Ventures.

Does GetReal detect text-based AI impersonations?

Currently, the platform focuses on multimodal detection of audio, video, and images. However, the company has indicated that its future roadmap includes expanding capabilities to address text-based impersonation threats.