Corma, a cybersecurity startup operating in Tel Aviv and San Francisco, officially emerged from stealth today after securing $60 million in seed funding led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Khosla Ventures and Coatue, to develop AI models specifically engineered for defensive cybersecurity.
The Rising Threat of AI-Driven Cyberattacks
The proliferation of powerful, accessible AI models has created a precarious landscape for digital security. Malicious actors are increasingly leveraging these tools to execute sophisticated attacks at an unprecedented scale, necessitating a new generation of defensive infrastructure.
Beyond Offensive AI: A New Defensive Paradigm
According to CEO Alon Pluda, most mainstream AI models from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google are inherently optimized for offensive capabilities—such as writing code, debugging, and complex reasoning—which map directly to cyberattack methodologies. Corma aims to flip this dynamic.
The name “Corma,” derived from Elvish in The Lord of the Rings, signifies a weapon against evil. Pluda explains that while current industry models are designed to attack, Corma’s technology is built exclusively for the defenders. Rather than focusing on coding, the startup’s models specialize in log analysis, auditing, and identifying critical patterns within massive datasets—the “needle in a haystack” challenges that human teams struggle to manage at speed.
Proven Results and Strategic Backing
Since deploying its initial model six weeks ago, Corma has been integrated into various Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 organizations, spanning the healthcare, financial services, energy, and critical infrastructure sectors. The company reports that its technology has successfully reduced threat response times by 94%.
Shaun Maguire, a partner at Sequoia, emphasized the necessity of this shift: “Agentic AI gives attackers a structural speed advantage. Alon’s hacking talent, paired with Corma’s frontier AI research, helps companies combat these threats at scale.”
Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures, noted that the stakes have escalated beyond mere data or financial theft. “As cyberattacks become more autonomous and scalable, the stakes move to critical infrastructure, healthcare systems, and essential services where failures have real-world consequences,” Khosla stated.
Scaling for the Future
With this $60 million infusion, Corma plans to accelerate the development of its AI models by scaling data acquisition and training processes. Furthermore, the company is prioritizing the recruitment of elite talent in defensive security and AI research to maintain its technological lead in the face of rapidly evolving cyber threats.