Jericho Security's Deepfake Simulator Trains the Pentagon and 38 Other Teams

The email arrives from a trusted colleague, referencing a project you discussed last week. The tone is familiar, the details are correct. Only the request is strange: a quick wire transfer, a credential reset, a click on this link. You hover over the sender's address, noticing a single transposed letter. You flag it. A small green checkmark appears on your dashboard. You have passed the test, but the test is just getting started.

Jericho Security, a New York startup founded in 2023, is building a cybersecurity gym. Its equipment is generative AI, and its workout consists of simulated phishing emails, SMS messages, voice calls, and deepfake videos. The company’s bet is that the old model of annual, templated security training is obsolete in an era where threat actors use AI to craft hyper-personalized attacks. The only viable defense, it argues, is a continuous, adaptive, and equally intelligent offense [jerichosecurity.com].

The AI-Powered Attack Simulator

At the core of Jericho’s platform is a proprietary engine it calls CyberGPT. This is not a chatbot for employees but a threat simulator for security teams. It generates what the company describes as “dynamic and personalized” attack simulations designed to mimic interactions with real people [Openlayer, March 2025]. The platform can spin up scenarios in multiple languages, track which employees engage with or report simulated threats, and provide detailed reporting dashboards. The goal is to move security awareness from a compliance checkbox to a measurable behavior change, creating what Jericho terms “behavioral resilience” [jerichosecurity.com].

This approach targets a specific and growing wedge in the market: AI-enabled social engineering. The company’s materials frequently cite a 2024 incident where a finance employee was tricked into wiring $25.6 million after a deepfake video call impersonated their CFO [jerichosecurity.com]. Jericho’s product is built for the moment when a cloned voice calls, or a video of your boss asks for a favor.

A Founding Team Built for the Fight

The company is led by a trio of founders whose backgrounds map neatly onto the problem’s dimensions: AI technology, scaled operations, and cybersecurity expertise.

Pre-seed Round | 3 | M USD
Series A Round | 15 | M USD
Total Disclosed | 19.8 | M USD

• Sage Wohns, CEO. A veteran AI technologist and the former CEO of Agolo, a natural language processing company acquired by Microsoft. He brings the technical AI pedigree to the venture [FinSMEs, August 2023].
• Tim Hwang, Chairman. The co-founder and CEO of publicly-traded FiscalNote, a regulatory intelligence platform. Hwang provides experience in scaling a venture-backed business to hundreds of employees and over $100 million in revenue, along with deep policy connections from his time at Google and Georgetown [TechCrunch, October 2016].
• Dan Chyan, CTO. A cybersecurity expert and founding partner of PKC Security, he grounds the team in the practical realities of defense [FinSMEs, August 2023].

This blend has proven compelling to investors. Jericho raised a $3 million pre-seed in August 2023 led by Era, followed by a $15 million Series A in April 2025 led by Era Ventures. Lux Capital participated in both rounds, alongside a syndicate that includes FoundersX Fund, Gaingels, and Plug and Play Ventures [The SaaS News, April 2025]. Total disclosed funding stands at approximately $19.8 million [Caplight].

Traction in Regulated Corridors

Jericho’s early traction signals a focus on high-stakes, regulated environments where security failures carry extreme consequences. Its most notable public win is a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, making its platform the only solution of its kind deployed by the DoD as of 2024 [EZ Newswire, September 2025]. The company has also achieved Impact Level 5 (IL5) authorization on Second Front Systems' platform, a key compliance milestone for handling controlled unclassified information within government clouds [TipRanks.com].

While specific customer names beyond the DoD are sparingly shared, the company says it works with design partners across finance, healthcare, government, insurance, and telecommunications [EZ Newswire, September 2025]. Third-party estimates peg the company’s annual revenue around $7.2 million and its team size at approximately 39 people [StartupHub.ai].

The Established Competition

Jericho is not entering an empty field. It faces incumbents like KnowBe4 and SoSafe, which have built massive businesses on security awareness training, and newer AI-native rivals like Baited and HoxHunt. The competitive moat Jericho is attempting to dig rests on two claims: the sophistication of its AI-generated simulations and the specificity of its focus on AI-powered threats.

The risks here are classic for a wedge player. The company must prove that its AI-generated simulations are meaningfully more effective at changing employee behavior than the templates used by larger, established players. It must also navigate a sales cycle that, while potentially accelerated by fear of AI threats, still involves convincing security chiefs to adopt a new, unproven platform. Furthermore, the very technology it relies on,generative AI,is rapidly commoditizing, which could allow larger competitors to replicate its core simulation capabilities.

Jericho’s answer appears to be a combination of technical specialization and regulatory groundwork. By going deep on simulating the most advanced threats (deepfakes, voice cloning) and securing authorizations for the most sensitive buyers (the DoD, IL5), it aims to own a high-end segment that values fidelity over cost.

The Next Twelve Months

The coming year will test whether Jericho’s specialized wedge can be driven into a broader enterprise base. Key milestones to watch include the expansion of its named customer roster beyond the flagship DoD deal, particularly in the finance and healthcare sectors it targets. Another undisclosed funding round led by GO Ventures was noted in July 2026, suggesting the capital runway for this push is being extended [Preqin, July 2026]. The company will also need to demonstrate that its CyberGPT engine stays ahead of both real-world attack vectors and competitor feature sets.

The product, in the end, is selling a specific kind of confidence. It is the quiet assurance that comes not from a policy document, but from the muscle memory of having already hung up on a fake version of your boss. Jericho Security is betting that in the age of algorithmic persuasion, the most valuable training is the one that feels, unsettlingly, real. The cultural question it answers is not just how to stop a phishing email, but how an organization learns to distrust its own senses, just enough to be safe.

Sources

1. [jerichosecurity.com, retrieved 2026] Jericho Security Website | https://www.jerichosecurity.com/
2. [Openlayer, March 2025] Jericho Security case study | https://www.openlayer.com/customers/jericho-security-phishing-simulation-and-training-company
3. [FinSMEs, August 2023] Jericho Security Raises $3M in Pre-Seed Funding | https://www.finsmes.com/2023/08/jericho-security-raises-3m-in-pre-seed-funding.html
4. [The SaaS News, April 2025] Jericho Security Raises $15M in Series A | https://www.jerichosecurity.com/resources/news/thesaasnews
5. [TechCrunch, October 2016] Tim Hwang profile | https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/27/fiscalnote-ceo-tim-hwang/
6. [EZ Newswire, September 2025] Jericho Security Unveils AI-Powered Phishing Defense Platform | https://www.eznewswire.com/newsroom/jericho-security-ai-phishing-defense-platform-15-million-funding
7. [TipRanks.com, retrieved 2026] Jericho Security IL5 Authorization | https://www.tipranks.com/
8. [Caplight, retrieved 2026] Jericho Security - Financial Details | https://www.caplight.com/company/jericho-security
9. [StartupHub.ai, retrieved 2026] Jericho Security estimated metrics | https://www.startuphub.ai/
10. [Preqin, July 2026] Jericho Security - Profile | https://www.preqin.com/data/profile/asset/jericho-security--inc-/558268