EP72 — Unicorn Files — Blackwall: who will control the web of AI agents?

Founded in Estonia in 2019 as BotGuard by Nikita Rozenberg and Denis Prochko, Blackwall built web-traffic security software for hosting and managed-service providers. GateKeeper is a reverse proxy that can run within provider infrastructure, using a customised Nginx build and filtering, caching, rate-limiting and layer-7 DDoS controls. In October 2026 the company announced a $100 million Series C led by AVP at a reported $2.2 billion valuation. Blackwall says its technology covers more than 2.3 million sites and applications through over 100 partners; these are company-reported adoption thresholds, not audited active paid-customer counts. Botguard OÜ reported €21.0 million of 2024 revenue in its standalone Estonian accounts, a historical figure that cannot be treated as current group ARR. The episode analyses the channel-first B2B2SMB model, its distribution benefits and partner concentration risks, and the possible shift from blocking malicious bots to recognising authenticated AI agents and enforcing access policies. Authentication, delegated authorisation and payments remain distinct problems; full agentic governance and pay-per-crawl capabilities should not be described as deployed Blackwall products without evidence.

• On 20 October 2026 Blackwall announced a $100 million Series C at a reported $2.2 billion valuation, distinct from TopTech’s earlier third-party valuation estimate.
• GateKeeper is a documented reverse proxy deployable within hosting-provider infrastructure, with web-security and traffic-management controls already available.
• Blackwall’s potential advantage is its channel model: one hosting integration can distribute the software to many sites, but it also leaves customer ownership and some pricing power with the partner.
• Blackwall reports protecting more than 2.3 million websites and apps through over 100 partners; paid-site counts, ARPU and current consolidated group revenue are undisclosed.
• Bot detection is different from agent authentication and delegated authorisation; end-to-end agentic policy enforcement and monetisation remain ambitions to be proven for Blackwall.