StrongestLayer, a cybersecurity company focused on AI-native email security and human risk solutions, has emerged from stealth with $5.2m in seed funding.
The round was led by Sorenson Capital, with participation from Recall Capital.
StrongestLayer has developed what it claims is the industry’s first truly large language model (LLM)-native email security platform. The company’s solution is designed to address the growing threat posed by generative AI-enhanced phishing attacks, which are expected to become the primary method of email-based cyberattacks in the coming years.
As cybercriminals increasingly adopt generative AI to create highly personalised phishing campaigns with little effort, StrongestLayer’s technology aims to stay ahead by using intent detection and advanced reasoning rather than relying on pattern-matching and static rules. The platform not only identifies malicious content but also trains employees to spot and respond to sophisticated phishing attempts based on specific attack behaviours targeting their organisation.
The seed funding will be used to scale StrongestLayer’s platform, enhance its threat detection capabilities, and further commercialise its solution in the enterprise security market.
StrongestLayer’s founding team includes cybersecurity veterans Muhammad Rizwan, Joshua Bass and Alan LeFort, who bring experience from companies such as Proofpoint, FireEye, Mandiant, Google, and McAfee. Their platform, called TRACE (Threat Reasoning AI Correlation Engine), combines multiple AI engines to mimic the decision-making capabilities of a team of security analysts, enabling it to detect AI-generated threats that would otherwise bypass conventional defences.
In the last year, StrongestLayer’s technology has reportedly detected and convicted 3.9 million fake company websites—evidence, the company suggests, of the evolving nature of phishing attacks, which now often involve the use of AI-generated fake firms to create legitimate-looking communications.
StrongestLayer CEO and co-founder Alan LeFort said, “We’re witnessing an irreversible transformation in the threat landscape. Security experts predict that by 2026-2027, AI-generated attacks will become the dominant form of email threats, growing from today’s small percentage to over 20% of all attacks. When sophisticated threats that once required nation-state capabilities can now be created by anyone with AI tools, pattern-matching systems don’t just become ineffective—they become obsolete. Our LLM-native approach isn’t just catching today’s threats—it’s architected for the AI-orchestrated threat landscape that is here and growing.”
Sorenson Capital partner Ken Elefant said, “Traditional email security was built for a world where attackers needed technical skills to craft convincing phishing emails. Now that AI can generate personalised, sophisticated attacks at scale, we need a fundamentally different approach. Alan and his team have deep experience with the limitations of pattern-based detection, and their LLM-native platform is the first solution we’ve encountered that can truly reason through malicious intent, like a human analyst, but with the speed and scale of a superpowered machine.”
Recall Capital general partner Somrat Niyogi added, “The email security market is massive, but dominated by legacy platforms that weren’t built for this AI-driven threat landscape. Alan, Riz, Josh, and the StrongestLayer team deeply understand where the gaps are—and they’re taking a fresh, LLM-native approach that’s exactly what this market needs right now.”
Copyright © 2025 FinTech Global
Copyright © 2018 RegTech Analyst
