Reality Defender graduates from BNY’s Ascent Program 2025

Five early-stage AI and cybersecurity startups have successfully graduated from BNY’s 2025 Ascent Program, including a deepfake detection firm.

The bank’s proof-of-concept platform embeds emerging technology firms within real-world financial services environments, with participants gaining direct access to business and technology leaders, testing frameworks and feedback aimed at accelerating product development and market readiness.

Over the past six months, the cohort worked alongside teams from BNY’s Strategic Partnerships, Investments and Innovation (SPIN) team, tackling challenges in areas such as AI governance, cyber defense, market intelligence and operational risk.

Reality Defender brought its deepfake detection capabilities into the SPIN labs, showcasing an API-driven system that flags synthetic media and impersonation fraud before it can impact business operations.

Based in New York, the company employs a patented multimodal approach in detecting sophisticated impersonations in real time, for which it has been named among the World Economic Forum’s 100 Technology Pioneers for 2025. It will contribute insights to WEF’s AI and digital trust initiatives over the next two years.

Reality Defender has also participated in the Singapore Cybersecurity Agency-sponsored CyberBoost Catalyse, a program for start-ups aimed at helping teams expand operations in the country, Asia Pacific and beyond. CEO Ben Coleman noted at the time that Singapore, as a financial hub, is an ideal place to pursue deepfake detection.

Among the other graduates of the Ascent Program include Protect AI, which is set to join Palo Alto Networks through a pending acquisition. The company’s tools scan enterprise AI systems for vulnerabilities and deliver real-time threat prevention. Calypso AI, another graduate, offers a platform to secure the entire AI application lifecycle, combining red-teaming exercises with defensive security measures to protect against adversarial attacks.

AgentSmyth delivers an autonomous agent platform, which uses AI to generate real-time investment intelligence and decision support for institutional traders. Deep Tempo rounded out the cohort with its predictive cybersecurity solution, leveraging specialized deep-learning models to detect and prevent threats before they materialize.

“We are thrilled to support some of the most innovative companies shaping the future of financial technology,” said Marianna Lopert-Schaye, Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, Investments and Innovation at BNY.

“The Ascent Program is uniquely positioned to help these companies validate and scale their ideas with real institutional input — while helping BNY future-proof our infrastructure and advance safe, responsible innovation.”

By collaborating closely with emerging technology firms at pivotal growth stages, the bank seeks to speed up the adoption of secure, scalable solutions that can benefit markets around the world.

Article Topics

accelerator program  |  biometrics  |  cybersecurity  |  deepfake detection  |  financial services  |  Reality Defender