DataDome Series C Confirms Bot Mitigation as the Foundation to the Fight Against Online Fraud

My Co-Founder Fabien Grenier and I created DataDome in 2015 after noticing that most companies were unable to detect and block even the simplest of bots, leaving them wide open to online fraud. We saw the need for an advanced solution that could block automated threats (aka, malicious bots) and online fraud, but in a complete and adaptive way that—unlike static rules-based systems—could evolve with the threat landscape in real time. 

Machine Learning at the Edge to Stop Fraudsters at the Gates

We decided to build a bot mitigation solution based on machine learning (ML) at the edge to assess every single request, every time. At the same time, it was critical to create a cybersecurity solution that is frictionless for consumers. While this was initially a difficult technical challenge, this approach is what has helped propel DataDome into a leadership position today.

Over time, both the sophistication of bots and the damages of online fraud have skyrocketed. The democratization of AI and lower cost of proxies makes it easier and cheaper for malicious actors to create sophisticated, rapidly evolving bots to carry out widely distributed attacks. 

Our ability to inspect the intent of every request enables us to stop fraud before it happens, reducing fraud costs by 95%.

Series C Funding Fuels Growth

So, it is with great pleasure that I share the news that DataDome has closed $42 million in series C funding to advance our fight against bot-driven cyberattacks and fraud. This funding round was led by InfraVia Growth, with participating investors including Elephant, ISAI, and others.

The series C financing will fund global commercial rollout, and R&D efforts to keep raising the bar and stay well ahead of bot developers and fraudsters. 

Online Fraud Prevention, Now More Essential Than Ever

In 2022 alone, DataDome stopped over 250 billion fraud attacks!

We know that online enterprises need a solution that empowers them to fight fraud on autopilot, proactively adjusting to new threats and stopping attacks without the need for intervention. That’s why our product innovation focuses on helping customers stay ahead of rapidly evolving and sophisticated bot attacks. 

Last year, we switched the vast majority of our customers to DataDome CAPTCHA to provide our ML detection with additional signals and feedback loops that help us block bots that bypass ~50% of  traditional CAPTCHAs. DataDome also added new AI-based models to block advanced threats from distributed residential and ISP proxies, CAPTCHA-solve bots, and CAPTCHA farms that defeat more traditional bot defenses. 

Cybersecurity and fraud mitigation have traditionally been handled by siloed departments, which enables attackers to take advantage of vulnerabilities. Our approach is transversal, and cuts across those silos. In that regard, we think like an attacker, and evaluate each request for its intent. In the coming months, you will see our product include an even richer and broader assessment of that intent—to continue stopping fraud in its tracks.

If you’re not already the owner of one of the 400,000 domains we protect, I invite you to try us out for free and see why our customers continue to rank us as the topmost leader in the G2 Grid® Report for Bot Detection and Mitigation, with special accolades in cloud security, DDoS protection, and fraud detection.