Funds Amassed to Address Human Safety Issues in Cybersecurity: $4.3 Million Secured
In the ever-evolving landscape of cybersecurity, a new player is making waves. Maro, a cognitive security platform, has recently secured $4.3 million in seed funding from Downing Capital Group. Founded in late 2024 by Jadon Montero (CEO), Gwen Betts (CXO), and Jen Andre (CTO), Maro is poised to redefine how organizations manage human risk in cybersecurity.
Maro's unique approach focuses on the cognitive processes behind decisions, protecting how people think, decide, and act under pressure or manipulation attempts. The platform is designed to manage human risk proactively, addressing the leading contributors to about 60% of data breaches that involve a human element.
One of Maro's key features is real-time intervention, dynamically intervening in moments of high stress or risk to prevent risky human decisions before they lead to security or compliance incidents. The platform also reinforces secure behaviors seamlessly as employees work, ensuring decisions comply with security policies without disrupting productivity.
Maro offers several other unique features. It prevents data loss to AI chatbots, mitigates risks associated with ungoverned or careless use of AI tools within workflows. The platform intercepts social engineering techniques, protecting users from clickjacking, typosquatting, and manipulation tactics common in social engineering attacks.
Moreover, Maro provides instant insights into employee behaviors and intentions, giving security leaders unprecedented visibility to manage risk proactively. This visibility extends to the workforce behavior, enabling organizations to prevent incidents and improve security coverage in real-time.
Jesse Downing, CEO at Downing Capital Group, emphasized Maro's ability to protect against risky actions taken by workforces when under stress and manipulated by attackers. Jadon Montero, a member of the Maro founding team, highlighted the need for Maro in broken security workflows where SOC analysts often don't have time to help employees after legacy tools fail.
The founding team of Maro brings over 40 years of combined experience in building security companies, with a focus on solving human-focused problems. This extensive experience, coupled with Maro's innovative approach, positions the platform as a game-changer in the realm of cognitive security.
Maro was developed in response to the acceleration of generative AI, remote work, and shadow SaaS, which increase the risk of users violating company policies without realizing it. With Maro, governance, risk, and compliance occur in real-time, allowing for the management and mitigation of human risk before issues reach the SOC.
In summary, Maro stands out by providing a real-time, AI-powered cognitive security platform that integrates behavioral insights and intervention to mitigate human-related cybersecurity risks effectively. As organizations grapple with the increasing human element in data breaches, Maro offers a promising solution to combat human errors and AI-exacerbated threats.
Maro's cognitive security platform, designed to manage human risk in cybersecurity, utilizes technology to intervene in moments of high stress or risk and prevent risky human decisions. The unique approach of Maro also includes preventing data loss to AI chatbots and intercepting social engineering techniques, reinforcing secure behaviors, providing instant insights into employee behaviors, and offering features to mitigate risks associated with ungoverned or careless use of AI tools.
