revel8 secures €7 million to fight AI-powered cyberattacks
revel8 secures €7 million to fight AI-powered cyberattacks
- Berlin-based cybersecurity startup revel8 closes seed round led by Peak to expand its human-centered cybersecurity platform
- Founded by former Celonis employees, revel8 today counts FC Bayern, OBI and Stihl among its customers
- The funding will be used to scale product development and empower more enterprise employees against AI-powered cyberattacks
Berlin, September 25, 2025 - Berlin-based cybersecurity startup revel8, which trains employees with realistic attack simulations of the latest AI cyber threats, has raised a €5.7 million seed round. The round is led by Peak, with participation from Fortino Capital, Merantix Capital, and business angels including Mario Götze, Sergej Epp (CISO, Sysdig), Michael Schrank (CISO, Adidas), Rogier Fischer (Co-founder & CEO, Hadrian) and Alexander Rinke (CEO, Celonis). Together with earlier pre-seed funding led by Merantix Capital, the company has now secured €7 million in total since its founding in 2024.
AI changes the cyber threat landscape
Generative AI has made it easier for attackers to create convincing fake voices, images, and messages. Vishing (voice phishing) incidents surged by more than 442% in 2024. That same year, a deepfake video call in Hong Kong convinced a bank manager at Arup to transfer $25 million. In April 2025, Marks & Spencer reported a voice phishing attack that caused losses of over £300 million.
Most breaches start with human error. “Traditional e-learnings are out of date. Training users with realistic replicas of the latest, relevant scams proves to be much more effective,” says co-founder and CEO Julius Muth. “By continuously exposing users to cyberattacks across all communication channels, we help clients to build a strong security culture and reduce the risk of costly incidents.”
How revel8 responds
revel8 mimics the tactics of modern attackers. Its AI-native, deepfake-first cyber platform replicates new attack methods in hours and, by leveraging open-source intelligence (OSINT), tailors simulations to each employee’s context. Every individual receives a personal ‘Spotify playlist of attacks’ that adapts dynamically to their role, behavior, and performance, strengthening defenses where it matters most. Through multi-channel realism and in-the-moment learning, the platform transforms the human factor from the weakest link into an active defense layer across the enterprise.
The company is among the first cybersecurity providers on the Stackit marketplace from Schwarz Group, offering enterprises a European cloud option.
“The human factor remains the weakest link in cybersecurity. Revel8 helps organizations manage this risk with AI-native simulations that model real-world threats—from deepfakes to automated vishing—and turn people into an active line of defense. We are convinced this team has the potential to become Europe’s frontrunner in AI-driven human risk cybersecurity, and we are proud to support them in their international scaling journey”, says Filip Van Innis, Partner at Fortino Capital.
“Generative AI is transforming the threat landscape faster than enterprises can react. revel8’s AI native approach replicates real-world attacks in hours, not months, and turns the human factor into an active defense layer. We believe this team has the vision and execution power to build Europe’s category leader in AI-native cyber security for human risk. That’s why we’re proud to back revel8 and support them on their Go-To-Market to scale internationally”, says Johan van Mil, Co-founder & Managing Partner at Peak.
"I know firsthand how powerful revel8's product is. They created a deepfake of my voice to try to fool our team into filling fake invoices," said Rasmus Rothe, Co-founder and General Partner at Merantix Capital. "Since the very beginning, we've been astonished with revel8's speed, execution, and early traction. I'm thankful they are on the good side, and I have no doubt revel8 will be the category-leading AI cybersecurity giant that Europe desperately needs."
From founding idea to vision
Julius Muth, Tom Müller, and Robert Seilbeck founded revel8 after seeing how unprepared organizations were for AI-based impersonation. Their goal is to train 10 million ‘human firewalls.’ With the new funding, revel8 expands its team, strengthens enterprise features, and grows internationally. “We want to make sure that companies are not left behind in the arms race between attackers and defenders,” says Muth. “This investment gives us the resources to build the next generation of defense tools for the next generation of threats.”
About revel8
Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Berlin, with a relocation to Munich planned for early 2026, revel8 is building Europe’s leading AI-native cybersecurity awareness platform. The company combines AI-powered attack simulations, OSINT-driven personalization, multi-channel attack chains, and real-time micro-trainings to help organizations meet compliance requirements such as NIS2 and ISO 27001 while improving human resilience against emerging cyber threats. revel8 was founded by Celonis alumni Julius Muth, Tom Müller, and Robert Seilbeck, and is backed by Peak, Fortino Capital, Merantix Capital, and several renowned business angels. Learn more: www.revel8.ai
