By stopping social engineering attacks as they happen, Humanix helps enterprises protect, not punish, their people, safeguard customers and reduce risk across every human-facing channel

Social engineering is the fastest-growing cybersecurity threat to enterprises: attackers don’t break in, they call in. Human-powered services like help desks and service desks are now the most common attack target for cybercriminals, costing organizations hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Humanix, the company protecting the human layer from social engineering attacks, today announced it has raised $18 million in combined Seed and Series A funding, with the most recent round led by Acrew Capital. BoldStart Ventures led the Seed round. Humanix is already securing leaders in finance, hospitality and other industries, proving the urgent need for real-time protection against hackers who exploit people, not code.

“Turns out the easiest way to hack a company is just to say ‘please.’ Criminals call the help desk, pretend to be an employee in a hurry, and walk away with passwords or keys to sensitive data. It’s low-tech, but highly effective - and AI is making it even more convincing,” said Keith Stewart, CEO and founder of Humanix. “Humanix detects and responds to these human-centric attacks as they happen, whether by phone, chat or service ticket, giving organizations confidence that interactions are trustworthy, employees are protected and business keeps moving smoothly. Our goal is to protect people, not punish them, by turning every employee into a secure part of the system rather than a potential vulnerability.”

Social engineering is driving losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars, with help desk breaches alone exceeding $100 million and liability increasingly extending to technology providers. These attacks exploit the trust, urgency and empathy that make us human, and current safeguards like training and scripts stop less than 2% of incidents. Humanix addresses this gap with human intelligence and AI-powered natural language analysis that detects manipulation tactics instantly across help desks, service desks and every customer-facing channel, enabling executives to:

• Protect customer trust- ensure every interaction is authentic and safe.
• Reduce friction in human relationships- fewer hoops and rigid processes for customers and employees, because attacks are detected automatically.
• Cut fraud and liability- limit financial losses and reduce exposure for enterprises and technology partners alike.

The Humanix platform works in three key stages. First, advanced AI models grounded in behavioral research detect manipulation tactics and policy violations as they occur in live conversations. Next, automated guidance provides real-time intervention and remediation guidance, ensuring employees respond effectively. Finally, the system delivers assurance by documenting that employees and suppliers followed proper processes, reducing both compliance exposure and liability risk.

"We invested in Humanix because people are the last frontier in cybersecurity," said Asad Khaliq, Acrew Capital. "Their platform gives companies instant visibility and control over the attacks that actually happen, not just the ones they train for."

“From inception, Humanix showed it could protect what was thought to be beyond protection, the human layer, a critical blind spot for every organization,” said Ed Sim, boldstart ventures. “Their execution and results are transforming cybersecurity, turning the human layer from a vulnerability into a frontline of defense.”

About Humanix

Humanix is redefining cybersecurity by making the human layer visible and defensible, closing the last major blind spot: social engineering. Using AI-powered natural language analysis, Humanix detects and blocks these attacks in as they happen across help desks, service desks and customer-facing channels. Humanix believes people shouldn’t be punished for being human, they should be protected. By securing the human layer, Humanix helps organizations detect, respond and prove that their human-facing processes are safe. For more information, visit humanix.ai.

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"Our goal is to protect people, not punish them, by turning every employee into a secure part of the system rather than a potential vulnerability”