AI vs. Impostors: Doppel Raises $70M to Counter Next-Gen Social Engineering Attacks
Silicon Valley’s cybersecurity startup Doppel has just landed a hefty $70 million Series C round, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, valuing the company at over $600 million. This funding comes just six months after its Series B, underscoring the urgency — and the potential — of defending against AI-powered manipulation. (PR Newswire)
The Stakes: AI-Fueled Social Engineering
As generative AI becomes more sophisticated, cybercriminals are using it to launch hyper-personalized attacks — think deepfakes, highly targeted phishing, real-time impersonations on messaging apps, and even text conversations. (PR Newswire) Doppel’s platform focuses on social engineering defense (SED), using agentic AI and a real-time “threat graph” to detect and dismantle threat infrastructure. (InfotechLead)
In practical terms, Doppel doesn’t just alert you — it automates takedowns of malicious infrastructure while also training your employees through simulations and “deepfake-driven” phishing exercises. (PR Newswire)
Why Investors Are All-In
- Bessemer is doubling down on Doppel because of its “incredible speed, massive ambition, and laser focus,” according to partner Elliott Robinson. (Bessemer Venture Partners)
- George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, also joined the round, warning that “cybercriminals are using AI… conducting increasingly sophisticated attacks.” (PR Newswire)
- Notably, the investor roster includes NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Aurum Partners, and even WNBA stars — Nneka Ogwumike, Breanna Stewart, and Kelsey Plum — via the a16z Cultural Leadership Fund. (PR Newswire)
Growth, Traction, and Strategy
Doppel’s numbers speak for themselves:
- 3x year-over-year growth in ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue). (PR Newswire)
- A 5× jump in Fortune 500 customers in just a short span. (PR Newswire)
- Over 200 customers globally across sectors like finance, healthcare, energy, and media. (FinSMEs)
- Doubled its headcount in less than a year and is aggressively hiring across engineering, sales, product, and marketing. (InfotechLead)
On the product front, Doppel is expanding both its Digital Risk Protection suite and its Human Risk Management tools — including simulations and security-awareness training. (PR Newswire) Its recently launched simulation tool, which uses real-time AI-generated deepfake-style phishing, has already found strong adoption. (Bessemer Venture Partners)
The Technical Edge: Agentic AI + OpenAI
A key factor behind Doppel’s success is its use of agentic AI (i.e., AI agents that operate autonomously) built on OpenAI’s latest models, refined via reinforcement fine-tuning (RFT). (Bessemer Venture Partners) According to Doppel, it has created an AI agent that can detect and neutralize complex social engineering threats in real time. (PR Newswire)
Doppel’s co-founders, Kevin Tian (CEO) and Rahul Madduluri (CTO), previously met while working at Uber. They started Doppel initially to tackle impersonation threats in the crypto space — but soon realized the problem was much broader. (AOL)
Interestingly, their mission isn’t to eliminate deepfakes entirely. As Tian put it, “the most dangerous thing about AI is how easy it is to impersonate anyone,” but “not all deepfakes are bad” — some companies even use them for avatars and marketing. (AOL) Instead, Doppel is focused on stopping the harmful, deceptive use of deepfakes, social engineering, and fraud. (AOL)
Why This Matters — and What’s Next
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Cybersecurity Is Evolving Rapidly: Criminals are no longer just sending phishing emails. They’re using AI to build convincing impersonations, launch real-time voice or video attacks, and target individuals across multiple channels.
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Defense Must Be AI-Native: Traditional cybersecurity tools may falter in this new landscape. Doppel’s model shows how defensive AI must be just as adaptive and creative as offensive AI.
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Investor Confidence Is Strong: The scale and speed of this raise — so soon after its previous round — suggests that VCs see huge market potential in AI-driven social engineering defense.
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Talent & Global Expansion: With fresh cash, Doppel will likely expand its product lines, grow its team, and extend its global footprint.
Glossary
- Social Engineering Defense (SED): Security measures specifically designed to counter manipulation-based attacks, such as phishing, impersonation, and deceptive messaging.
- Agentic AI: A form of AI that acts autonomously, making decisions and taking actions on its own.
- Real-Time Threat Graph: A data structure that maps ongoing threat activities—linking different alerts and signals to reveal attacker infrastructure.
- Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT): A method of training AI models by reinforcing or rewarding them for desirable behaviors, improving performance on specific tasks.
- Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR): A financial metric measuring predictable revenue a company expects to receive every year.
Source: Doppel Raises $70 M Series C to Meet Rising Demand for AI-Driven Social Engineering Defense (PR Newswire)
