AI-driven cybersecurity startup Neural Defend raises $600,000 in a pre-Seed funding round

Neural Defend, an AI-driven cybersecurity startup, has raised over $600,000 in a pre-Seed funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), a Gurugram-based angel investment firm.

The round also saw participation from MIT SBXI (Boston-based), Techstars San Francisco, and Soonicorn Ventures. The startup will use the raised capital to enhance its agentic AI capabilities for real-time, multimodal deepfake detection, further advancing its R&D efforts and product development.

What does Neural Defend do?

Founded in 2024, Neural Defend specialises in deepfake detection and cybersecurity innovation. With pilot projects already underway in New York and Singapore, the startup is addressing the growing risks posed by AI-generated digital deception.

The startup, led by Piyush Verma (CEO), Sivashankar Selvarajan (CTO), and Sumit Singh (Chief Data Officer), is poised to redefine identity protection and fraud prevention on a global scale.

"Our goal is to protect real identities against digital deception through innovative AI agentic technology," said Piyush Verma, CEO of Neural Defend.

Focused on scaling operations

Currently at the pre-revenue stage, Neural Defend is focused on scaling its operations by engaging with global enterprises, fintech companies and financial institutions for product validation and market expansion.

Unlike traditional methods, the startup's proprietary AI models detect deepfakes across multiple data formats, including video/ image, audio, real-time streams, ensuring robust fraud prevention for businesses and governments.

Neural Defend is also working with fintech companies and financial institutions focusing on Video verification and KYC use cases. The startup claims to have achieved State of the art benchmarks for their technology, demonstrating the effectiveness of their AI-driven fraud detection systems.

“It is no news that cyber threats are evolving rapidly, risking businesses and individuals’ privacy and finances. Neural Defend’s AI-driven approach to real-time detection perfectly aligns with today’s urgent need for robust cybersecurity and digital identity protection. At IPV, we back companies that solve critical challenges with scalable business models," said Vikram Ramasubramanian, Partner & CIO, Inflection Point Ventures.