Humanix, a company focused on protecting the human element from social engineering attacks, has successfully raised $18 million in combined Seed and Series A funding. Acrew Capital led the most recent Series A round, while BoldStart Ventures spearheaded the Seed round. The funding aims to expand Humanix’s platform, which provides real-time protection against cybercriminals who exploit human interaction rather than technical vulnerabilities.
Social engineering is identified as the fastest-growing cybersecurity threat for enterprises, with human-powered services like help desks and service desks becoming primary targets. These attacks are estimated to cost organizations hundreds of millions of dollars annually, with help desk breaches alone surpassing $100 million in losses.
Keith Stewart, CEO and founder of Humanix, highlighted the simplicity and effectiveness of these attacks: “Turns out the easiest way to hack a company is just to say ‘please.’ Criminals call the help desk, pretend to be an employee in a hurry, and walk away with passwords or keys to sensitive data. It’s low-tech, but highly effective – and AI is making it even more convincing.” Stewart added that current safeguards, such as employee training and scripts, are ineffective in more than 98% of incidents.
Humanix addresses this gap by employing human intelligence and AI-powered natural language analysis to detect manipulation tactics across help desks, service desks, and other customer-facing channels as they occur. “Humanix detects and responds to these human-centric attacks as they happen, whether by phone, chat or service ticket, giving organizations confidence that interactions are trustworthy, employees are protected and business keeps moving smoothly,” Stewart explained. He further stated the company’s objective: “Our goal is to protect people, not punish them, by turning every employee into a secure part of the system rather than a potential vulnerability.”
The Humanix platform operates in three stages: first, advanced AI models, informed by behavioral research, identify manipulation tactics and policy violations during live conversations. Second, automated guidance offers real-time intervention and remediation advice to employees. Finally, the system provides assurance by documenting adherence to proper processes, thereby reducing compliance exposure and liability risks for organizations.
Asad Khaliq of Acrew Capital commented on the investment, stating, “We invested in Humanix because people are the last frontier in cybersecurity. Their platform gives companies instant visibility and control over the attacks that actually happen, not just the ones they train for.” Ed Sim from boldstart ventures also noted, “From inception, Humanix showed it could protect what was thought to be beyond protection, the human layer, a critical blind spot for every organization. Their execution and results are transforming cybersecurity, turning the human layer from a vulnerability into a frontline of defense.”
Humanix’s technology is designed to make the human layer visible and defensible, effectively closing a significant blind spot in cybersecurity.
