DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused search various to Google, needs to place cash into startups which have the same deal with privateness.
The corporate says that it’s actively in search of startups in search of funding, or startups that may be all for partnering up or being acquired. In a weblog publish right this moment, the corporate name-checked its SVP of finance, Mike Marino, and director of company and enterprise growth, Diana Chiu, as factors of contact for these .
DuckDuckGo writes:
“For early-stage investments, we’re versatile on deal construction, goal to maneuver shortly and are completely satisfied to co-invest with different firms, funds, and people. For acquisitions, we’re open to a spread of firms that share a dedication to defending person privateness.”
Based in 2008, DuckDuckGo is the handiwork of CEO Gabriel Weinberg (pictured) who funded the corporate himself for the primary three years earlier than touchdown its first exterior money injection in 2011. Within the intervening years, DuckDuckGo attracted some $180 million in exterior funding (a honest chunk of which got here from the secondary market), with backers together with Tiger World, Union Sq. Ventures, and people reminiscent of WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton and web-inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
DuckDuckGo, which says it has been worthwhile since 2014 and has had greater than $100 million in annual income since no less than 2021, positions itself because the antithesis of Google, monetizing by means of advertisements based mostly solely on the content material of key phrase searches fairly than person knowledge. It additionally makes cash by means of “non-tracking” affiliate partnerships with the likes of Amazon and eBay. Extra lately, the corporate has expanded additional past search, providing subscription bundles that embrace options reminiscent of a VPN.
Non-public cash
Whereas DuckDuckGo has traditionally donated to privacy-focused non-profits such because the Digital Frontier Basis (EFF), the Sign Basis, and The Markup, it has quietly been taking a extra capitalistic method to the way it helps organizations that align with its personal objectives. Final month, the corporate joined a $50 million funding spherical into generative AI search firm You.com, alongside big-name backers reminiscent of Nvidia and Salesforce Ventures.
A part of DuckDuckGo’s newly-launched Privateness Professional bundle additionally features a private info elimination service, whereby it scans knowledge dealer websites to seek out private knowledge and requests elimination on the person’s behalf. As issues transpired, this service was powered by a startup known as Removaly, which DuckDuckGo had quietly acquired again in 2022.
A DuckDuckGo spokesperson advised TechCrunch that the corporate has invested in six startups over the previous three years, although would solely identify You.com, Removaly, and one hitherto unknown one — an AI mannequin coaching platform known as EverArt.
Whereas shopper privateness tech will probably be a big focus for its investments, DuckDuckGo additionally stated it is going to be investing in firms centered on “search and browse,” in addition to “rising applied sciences” like generative AI. Certainly, its latest funding in You.com checks all these packing containers, because it affords a “zero-trace” non-public search mode that You.com claims is “much more non-public than DuckDuckGo.”
So whereas DuckDuckGo has been dabbling within the VC and M&A domains already, it’s now doubling down on these efforts by actively requesting that appropriate startups attain out.
As with different firms with funding off-shoots, from huge weapons reminiscent of Google by means of smaller tech firms like Twilio and Workday, DuckDuckGo will probably be investing from its stability sheet — that’s the place its profitability and annual revenues come into play. However provided that it’s nonetheless a comparatively small non-public firm in its personal proper, it received’t be becoming a member of megabucks pre-IPO funding rounds — that is all about early-stage investments.
“That is the primary time we’ve talked about our investments and the general technique round it instantly,” the spokesperson continued. “We needed to make this announcement to formalize this work that has been occurring behind the scenes for some time, and sign to startups, potential companions, and the bigger tech group that our door is open to anybody who needs to work with us on a extra non-public Web.”
