Funds totalling $4.3 million allocated for tackling cybersecurity threats affecting humans
Maro, a groundbreaking AI-powered cognitive security platform, has recently secured $4.3 million in seed funding from Downing Capital Group. This funding will be utilised for team expansion, product development, and the company's launch strategy.
Maro is designed to proactively manage human risk in cybersecurity by addressing threats such as social engineering, insider risks, and AI misuse in real time. The platform integrates governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) functions directly into everyday workflows, transforming static security rules into dynamic, context-aware interventions.
Helping Security Leaders Manage Human Risk
Maro assists security leaders by enforcing behavioral policies that apply adaptive security controls at the browser and usage level, providing visibility and responsiveness lacking in legacy tools. It prevents data loss to AI chatbots and stops the exposure of sensitive data without hampering productivity or innovation.
Moreover, Maro intercepts social engineering attacks and AI-driven deception techniques like clickjacking, typosquatting, and adversary-in-the-browser attacks at the moment they occur. It improves coverage on critical security controls (CIS) by over 50% quickly.
Focusing on Real-Time Prevention
Maro focuses on mitigating human risk before incidents reach security operations centers (SOCs), enabling real-time prevention rather than post-incident reaction. This approach is a result of consultation with over 50 CISOs and CIOs from sectors like fintech, healthcare, and retail, who highlighted governance of AI usage as a primary concern in managing human-related cybersecurity risk.
Reducing Risky Employee Behavior
In summary, Maro helps security leaders by embedding cognitive and AI-driven security measures directly within user workflows to reduce risky employee behavior, improve threat detection at the point of impact, and enhance risk governance in complex, AI-accelerated environments.
Jesse Downing, CEO at Downing Capital Group, stated that Maro protects people from taking risky actions when stress levels are high and attackers manipulate them. Jadon Montero, a member of Maro's founding team, explained that Maro was born from years spent inside broken security workflows where SOC analysts didn't have time to help every employee after legacy tools failed to stop risky actions.
Maro was founded in late 2024 by Jadon Montero (CEO), Gwen Betts (CXO), and Jen Andre (CTO). The founding team has deep cybersecurity experience solving human-focused problems, working together across three companies, including several with successful exits. Maro leverages over 40 years of combined experience in building security companies.
The acceleration of generative AI, remote work, and the use of shadow SaaS exponentially increases the risk that users run afoul of company policy without even knowing it, according to Jadon Montero. With Maro, governance, risk, and compliance happen in the moment, managing and mitigating human risk before issues reach the SOC.
Maro's technology provides real-time visibility into workforce behaviors and reinforces secure actions in daily workflows. It defends against social engineering attacks and prevents data loss to AI chatbots, ensuring a secure and productive environment for all users.
- Maro, a groundbreaking AI-powered cognitive security platform, enhances technology by proactively managing human risk in cybersecurity, providing real-time visibility and prevention against social engineering attacks, insider threats, and AI misuse.
- To address the rising risks associated with the acceleration of generative AI, remote work, and shadow SaaS, Maro utilizes its technology to embed cognitive and AI-driven security measures within user workflows, reducing risky employee behavior and ensuring a secure and productive environment through real-time risk governance.
