Zurich, Switzerland / San Francisco, USA, July 24th, 2024 âLakera, the worldâs leading real-time Generative AI (GenAI) Security company, has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round. Led by European VC Atomico, with participation from Citi Ventures, Dropbox Ventures, and existing investors including redalpine, this investment brings Lakera's total funding to $30 million. This funding positions Lakera at the forefront of the global economy's race to secure GenAI applications. As part of this round, Atomico Partner Sasha Vidiborskiy will join Lakeraâs board.
Itâs been predicted that by 2026, 80% of enterprises will have used GenAI or GenAI-enabled applications in production environments, up from less than 5% in 2023. As businesses worldwide scramble to harness the power of GenAI without exposing themselves to AI-specific risks, the demand for Lakeraâs platform is expected to continue growing at a rapid clip.Â
While GenAI could add an estimated $4.4 trillion annually to global GDP, cybersecurity remains the second most-cited risk associated with its adoption as traditional cyber tools are ill-equipped to address the novel dangers it poses. This creates a critical need for security solutions that address GenAI-specific risks, without which businesses are unable to unlock the benefits of AI.Â
David Haber, Founder and CEO of Lakera, explains the urgency: "With the advent of GenAI, the old cybersecurity techniques arenât sufficient. Enterprises now operate in a world where anyone who knows how to talk knows how to hack. Security solutions need to change but they canât get in the way of user experience. There is a need for real-time AI security solutions that continuously evolve and enable amazing user experiences.âÂ
David elaborates in his blog published today.Â
Cybersecurity-risks posed by LLMs
The spectrum of LLM vulnerabilities is both diverse and severe:
- GenAI introduces prompt attacks as the most widely accessible hacking method. In the past, hackers needed to be able to code - but now, the only barrier to entry is being able to talk.
- Prompt attacks can easily be used to manipulate GenAI so that a malicious actor can gain unauthorized access to a companyâs systems, steal confidential data, take unauthorized actions, and generate harmful content.
- AI "sleeper agents" can lie dormant until activated for malicious purposes. Jailbreaking techniques can compromise powerful models in mere minutes.
- AI-targeted worms can bypass security measures, harvesting data and launching widespread attacks.Â
- Most alarmingly, researchers have shown the ability to jailbreak a million LLM agents with a single image in just 27-31 chat rounds, demonstrating the potential for rapid, large-scale compromises.
Lakera's comprehensive approach to AI security delivers three key benefits for enterprises: protection that doesnât slow down their AI applications; the ability to stay ahead of AI threats with continuously evolving intelligence; and centralized implementation of AI security controls.Â
The companyâs growth comes at a pivotal moment in AI development. With the adoption of GenAI, users now direct software applications using natural language, and Lakeraâs real-time AI security does not compromise application interactivity. To make implementation effortless for developers, the company's API can be integrated with a single line of code, providing an ultra low-latency security layer compatible with any GenAI model. Centralized controls allow security teams to customize application-specific policies and address emerging threats without code changes.
Lakera is uniquely positioned to tackle these fast-changing challenges, in part thanks to Gandalf - an AI educational platform created by the company which serves as the world's largest AI red team. With over 250 thousand unique users worldwide, including companies such as Microsoft where itâs used in security training, Gandalf generates a real-time database of AI threats which is growing by 100 thousands of uniquely new attacks every day and keeps Lakeraâs software up to date, ensuring continuous protection for customers. The 50+ million data points generated by Gandalf, combined with the founding teamâs deep experience in building AI systems with real-time requirements, means Lakeraâs customers are able to stay ahead of threats and deliver amazing user experiences.
Atomico Partner Sasha Vidoborskiy, who will join Lakera's board, said: "Lakera has seen impressive commercial pull, winning customers such as Dropbox and a top 3 US bank, and already having more than 35% of Fortune 100 companies knock on their door. All those clients have an urgency to deploy GenAI applications into production, but canât do it without protection in place. Easy integration, best-in-class performance, and low latency are why they pick Lakera. But most importantly, the company is led by David and his team, who are thought leaders in the space and have a deep understanding of what the adoption of AI means for new cybersecurity risks."
âAt Dropbox, ensuring the security of our systems and customersâ data is a top priority,â said Donald Tucker, Head of Corporate Development and Ventures at Dropbox. âLakeraâs team has extensive expertise and a deep understanding of the complex security challenges companies are facing with LLMs and Generative AI. Their advanced technology is helping companies like Dropbox safeguard against vulnerabilities these new technologies pose. Weâre thrilled to strengthen our existing relationship with Lakera by investing in the future of the company and AI security.â
Lakera plans to use this funding round to invest further in its product development and expand its presence in the US, where it already has a foothold in Silicon Valley.Â
About Lakera
Lakera is the worldâs leading real-time GenAI security company. Customers rely on Lakera for security that doesnât slow down their AI applications. To accelerate secure adoption of AI, the company created Gandalf, an educational tool, where more than one million users have learned about AI security. Lakera uses AI to continuously evolve defenses, so customers can stay ahead of emerging threats. Lakera was founded by David Haber, Mateo Rojas-Carulla and Matthias Kraft in 2021.
About Atomico
Atomico invests in ambitious tech founders from Seed through to IPO with a particular focus on Europe, leveraging deep operational experience to supercharge their growth. Founded in 2006, Atomico has partnered with over 100 ambitious teams - including those at Klarna, Supercell, Graphcore, Compass, MessageBird, Masterclass, Attentive Mobile, Pipedrive and Hinge Health. Atomicoâs team of founders, investors and operational leaders have been responsible for global expansion, hiring and marketing at companies from Skype and Google to Twitter and Uber. The firm currently has $5B in assets under management.Â
Learn how to protect against the most common LLM vulnerabilities
Download this guide to delve into the most common LLM security risks and ways to mitigate them.
GenAI Security Preparedness â¨
Report 2024
Get the first-of-its-kind report on how organizations are preparing for GenAI-specific threats.
Free Download
Explore AI Regulations.
Compare the EU AI Act and the White Houseâs AI Bill of Rights.
Understand AI Security Basics.
Get Lakera's AI Security Guide for an overview of threats and protection strategies.
Uncover LLM Vulnerabilities.
Explore real-world LLM exploits, case studies, and mitigation strategies with Lakera.
Optimize LLM Security Solutions.
Use our checklist to evaluate and select the best LLM security tools for your enterprise.
Master Prompt Injection Attacks.
Discover risks and solutions with the Lakera LLM Security Playbook.
Unlock Free AI Security Guide.
Discover risks and solutions with the Lakera LLM Security Playbook.
Donât miss the updates!
Subscribe to our newsletter to get the recent updates on Lakera product and other news in the AI LLM world. Be sure youâre on track!
You might be interested
While GenAI Adoption Surges, Report Shows Security Preparedness LagsÂ
While GenAI Adoption Surges, Report Shows Security Preparedness LagsÂ
Ninety-five percent of cybersecurity experts express low confidence in GenAI security measures while red team data shows anyone can easily hack GenAI models
Lakera Report: AI Adoption Surges, Security Preparedness Lags Behind
Lakera Report: AI Adoption Surges, Security Preparedness Lags Behind
Our findings reveal a rapid adoption of GenAI technologies, with nearly 90% of organizations actively implementing or planning to explore LLM use cases. Despite this high adoption rate, only about 5% of organizations feel highly confident in their AI security preparedness.
Activate
untouchable mode.
untouchable mode.
Get started for free.
Lakera Guard protects your LLM applications from cybersecurity risks with a single line of code. Get started in minutes. Become stronger every day.
Join our Slack Community.
Several people are typing about AI/ML security. â¨Come join us and 1000+ others in a chat thatâs thoroughly SFW.
