Illuminate Financial led a $33m round in Reality Defender.

Illuminate Financial, a thesis-driven venture capital firm, led a $33m round in Reality Defender, the deepfake and AI-generated media detection platform, with participation from Booz Allen Ventures, IBM Ventures, the Jefferies Family Office, Accenture, DCVC, The Partnership Fund for New York City and Y Combinator. "The Reality Defender team's proactive development has allowed our platform to not only keep pace with the many ills brought on by deepfakes and generative AI, but protect against novel and potential future threats as they appear. Illuminate not only recognizes the threats deepfakes pose to the financial sector, but allow us to further our reach in the sector and beyond — moving from call centers at tier-one banks to vulnerable places where AI-enabled fraud can inflict the most damage," Ben Colman, Reality Defender CEO and Co-Founder.