DATADOME RAISES 2.5 MILLION EUROS FROM ISAI AND 50 PARTNERS

DataDome, publisher of the SaaS cybersecurity solution protecting websites from bot traffic, raises €2.5 million from ISAI and 50 Partners. This second round, which follows a €1 million round in December 2016, will enable the company to strengthen its presence on the European market, prepare for its expansion towards the US and Asian markets, and develop its data monetization offering. DataDome, a cybersecurity software publisher, today announced that it has raised 2.5 million euros from ISAI and 50 Partners Capital, with renewed support from its main business angels.

Founded in 2015 by Fabien Grenier and Benjamin Fabre, DataDome protects websites and APIs against bot traffic, which is at the root of the main security threats to online activities: content theft, account takeover, marketing fraud and denial of service. Over the course of two years, DataDome has secured prestigious clients and partners like PriceMinister, PagesJaunes, BlaBlaCar, Le Parisien and Amazon Web Services. 

In December 2016, the company raised €1 million in its first round of funding from business angels, talented entrepreneurs, and technology and SaaS specialists. 

The additional funds will enable DataDome to continue its R&D efforts, and to develop its sales and marketing operations. Target: signing contracts with major e-commerce, classified ads and media players in Europe. The international strategy will be supported by the development of the data monetization offering. By giving back to publishers the control over their data, DataDome allows them to manage data sharing and distribution on their own terms. The result: enhanced value of these strategic assets, made possible by DataDome’s tools and support.

“The data leaks that have made the news in recent months (Yahoo, Equifax, Uber …) illustrate what a major challenge protection of personal data and internet exchanges has become. With tens of thousands of websites and APIs that collect, host and transmit billions of data pieces at any one time, DataDome is operating on a worldwide market with great potential, as evidenced by our growth. This fundraising will enable us not only to gain a European dimension, but also to support our customers in their efforts to make the most of the data and content they produce“, says Fabien Grenier, co-founder and CEO of DataDome. 

“In 2017, DataDome extended its technology to eleven data centers in order to stay closer to its customers. This allows us to identify bot traffic to websites and APIs in real time, no matter where they are hosted around the world. With this fundraising, we will pursue and intensify our R&D efforts, and always stay ahead of the evolution of threats, in particular those related to botnet attacks,” said Benjamin Fabre, co-founder and CTO of DataDome.

Jean-David Chamboredon, Executive Chairman of the ISAI fund, joins the board of directors alongside the founders, Francis Nappez (BlaBlaCar) and Sébastien Lucas (Oxalide): “50% of all web traffic is now generated by bots. Some bots are bad, some are friends, and others, once identified, may become partners. Combining technical know-how and business vision, DataDome offers publishers, in a broad sense, a new and relevant way to both secure and monetize this traffic. This solution can legitimately have global ambitions, and we are delighted to support the company’s internationalization.” 

Jérôme Masurel, CEO of 50 Partners, confirms: “In the two years that 50 Partners has supported DataDome, we have seen the team’s tremendous execution capacity, the development of the DataDome technology, and the growing market interest for these protection solutions. We therefore enthusiastically renew our support, and will continue to contribute every available resource to the project’s development.” 

About DataDome 

DataDome enables its customers to leverage their data capital by protecting their online assets against bot traffic, which is at the root of the main security threats to online activities: content and data theft, account takeover, marketing fraud, and denial of service attacks. DataDome’s proprietary SaaS technology detects and filters this bot traffic in order to protect websites and APIs. The company maps thousands of bot operators, and offers tools for managing their activity in real time. This intelligent protection allows DataDome customers to regain control over their online content and data. DataDome helps them leverage their data by enabling them to turn this illegitimate traffic into business opportunities. With the global market as its horizon, DataDome intends to participate in the effort to make the internet safer for users and for businesses, and to enable publishers to better leverage their data and content. Fabien Grenier and Benjamin Fabre are DataDome’s cofounders. Entrepreneurs and business angels in the digital space since 2000, Fabien and Benjamin cofounded and managed TrendyBuzz, which was sold to Linkfluence in February 2014 to become the leader of social listening in France. Building on their experience from TrendyBuzz with using bots to crawl the web, they founded DataDome in 2015 in order to fulfill a simple, yet innovative vision: combining a highperformance cybersecurity solution protecting sites from automated traffic with business-centric tools to turn this traffic into business opportunities. They have since built a first-class team, with two other partners (Benjamin Barrier, CSO, and Olivier Trabucato, CFO) and about fifteen employees. They rely on a powerful network: the accelerator 50 Partners, the incubator LeVillagebyCA, the ISAI fund, and its business angels: Julien Leroy (AdVideum), Francis Nappez (Blablacar), Julien Coulon (Cedexis), Thibaud Elziere and Quentin Nickmans (eFounders), Christophe Poupinel (Ooreka), Sébastien Lucas and Maxime Kurkdjian (Oxalide), Justin Ziegler (PriceMinister), Patrice Thiry (ProwebCE), Quentin de Chivré (Shopmium), Godefroy Jourdan (Starting Dot), and Fabien Bourdier (TVtrip). For more information: https://datadome.co 

About ISAI 

Launched in 2010, ISAI is « the » French tech entrepreneurs’ fund, gathering more than 200 entrepreneurs across the world. Almost 150 successful entrepreneurs who have invested in ISAI, and more than 50 startup cofounders supported by ISAI, share the collective ambition to write great entrepreneurial stories. ISAI invests in differentiated projects founded by ambitious teams that it rigorously selects and actively supports. With more than €160M under management, ISAI Gestion can fund and support high-potential companies, whether they are at early stages (venture capital, €150k to €2M initial ticket with ability to follow on) or at more mature stages (growth equity, €1M to €15M investments). 

About 50Partners 

50 Partners is one of the main French accelerators, founded in 2012 by 50 successful IT entrepreneurs (Blablacar, LeBonCoin, ShowRoomPrivé, PriceMinister..) and aiming to support promising early-stage startups. The selected startups benefit from customized mentoring, access to a partner ecosystem (corporate, investors, media, schools, service providers), office space, and dedicated support for financing, business development and international expansion. The program represents a “for life” support system for the projects. 50 Partners supports projects in various areas of innovation: Fintech (ProcessOut, Silkpay), Deeptech and AI (Pandascore, Hull, Woleet), HR (Supermood, Brigad), Retailtech (Simplifield, Tokywoky, Qopius), Cybersecurity (Sqreen, DataDome, Seald), services (Ever, Littleworker, BirdOffice, SnapEvent), B2C (LeCloset, Selency, MagicMakers), etc. 

Media contacts 

DataDome 

Jean-Dominique Quien - jean-dominique.quien@datadome.co - 06 21 09 28 43 

ISAI / Kablé Communication 

Marie Le Goff - marie.legoff@kable-communication.com - 07 87 96 12 74 

Marina Thomas - marina.thomas@kable-communication.com - 06 69 42 03 47