Blackwall
An Estonian scaleup, formerly BotGuard, that helps hosting and cloud providers filter bots, attacks and automated traffic and resell security modules to their own customers.
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Podcast Episode
🎙️ Deep Dive
Blackwall, Daytona, Starling — $160M for cyber and agent cloud, while fintech reprices — Daily News October 20, 2026
Listen to the episodeAbout Blackwall
Founded in Estonia in 2019 by Nikita Rozenberg (CEO) and Denis Prochko (CTO) as BotGuard, Blackwall develops a traffic-management layer deployed directly inside the infrastructure of hosting, cloud and managed-service providers. The platform combines bot mitigation, DDoS protection, a web application firewall, load balancing, server-side encryption and management of AI-agent traffic, distinguishing human visitors and legitimate agents from malicious bots. Providers configure the modules, set prices and resell them as their own products, sharing revenue with Blackwall while keeping the customer relationship. After a €12 million Series A in 2024 and a €45 million Series B in 2025, on October 20, 2026 it raised $100 million led by AVP at a $2.2 billion valuation, four times that of its previous round according to the company.
The Story
It grew out of Denis Prochko’s vegetarian recipe site, which was flooded with bots as it grew; with his friend Nikita Rozenberg he built a mitigation system later offered to others, launched as BotGuard in 2019 and renamed Blackwall in 2025.
How Blackwall works
Business Model
Indirect sales through hosting, cloud and managed-service providers, with resellable modules and revenue sharing.
Revenue Model
Revenue sharing with providers on protection modules; a free tier offering visibility into traffic and threats.
Products & Services
Key Products
- Bot mitigation
- Protezione DDoS
- Web application firewall
- Bilanciamento del carico e routing
- Cifratura lato server
- Gestione del traffico degli agenti AI
Core Use Cases
- Filtering bots and abusive traffic before it reaches servers
- Reducing infrastructure costs and latency for providers
- Reselling security modules to end customers
Market & Clients
Key Customers
Hosting, cloud and managed-service providers, which resell the modules to their own customers, mostly small and medium-sized businesses.
Geographic Presence
How Blackwall competes
Competitors
Competitive Advantages
- Distribution embedded in provider channels
- Configurable modules partners can resell under their own brand
- Filtering performed close to hosting infrastructure
How Blackwall grows
Growth Strategy
Expand into 12 regions across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and add new security capabilities for hosting and cloud providers.
Distribution Model
Indirect sales through providers with white-label modules, revenue sharing and a free visibility tier.
Moat (Defensibility)
Deep provider integrations, telemetry on billions of requests a day and channel relationships with revenue sharing.
Regulatory Context
Data protection and processing of web telemetry, and provider contractual and security obligations.
Key Risks
- Errors distinguishing legitimate from malicious bots
- Competition from large platforms such as Cloudflare and Akamai
- Operational complexity of global expansion
Strategic Insights
- The provider channel combines distribution, technical integration and revenue sharing.
- Growth in automated traffic expands the market while making it harder to distinguish useful bots from harmful ones.
Funding & Investors
Latest Valuation
Funding Rounds
- 2024 - Series A: €12M
Lead: MMC Ventures - 2025 - Series B: €45M
Lead: Dawn Capital - 2026 - Series C: $100M
Lead: AVP
Key Investors
Founding Team
Founders
Key Executives
- Roi Carthy - Executive Chairman
Key Metrics
Lessons from Blackwall
- Infrastructure embedded in a distribution channel can be more defensible than a product sold individually to end users.
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Read AnalysisSources
- Blackwall raises $100 Million at $2.2 Billion valuation — AVP
- Blackwall quadruples valuation to $2.2B as websites wrangle an increasingly crowded internet — TechCrunch
- Botguard raises €45 million Series B led by Dawn Capital, rebrands to Blackwall — PR Newswire
- Estonia’s BotGuard OÜ secures €12m for cybersecurity expansion — FinTech Global
- Why we’re backing Blackwall — Dawn Capital