Blackwall quadruples valuation to $2.2 billion as websites wrangle

Estonia-based Blackwall, which builds web traffic security tools for hosting providers, said on Tuesday that it has raised $100 million at a $2.2 billion valuation, according to TechCrunch's report. The Series C was led by AVP, with participation from existing investors Dawn Capital, MMC Ventures and Tera Ventures. Executive chairman Roi Carthy told TechCrunch this round increased the company's valuation by 4 times since its previous fundraise in 2025. The products help websites grapple with the skyrocketing volume of bot traffic, especially AI agents.

This piece covers the Series C terms, Blackwall's channel model for web hosting, managed service and cloud providers, and the tools those providers offer under their own branding. It is for hosting and cloud operators and for website teams facing DDoS attacks, indiscriminate scraping, botnet farms, malicious requests and swarms of AI agents. CEO Nikita Rozenberg describes provider pricing, the free tier, and where the $100 million is planned to go.

The deal behind Blackwall quadruples valuation to $2.2

Blackwall said on Tuesday that the round is a Series C of $100 million at a $2.2 billion valuation. The lead investor was AVP. Existing investors Dawn Capital, MMC Ventures and Tera Ventures participated. Roi Carthy, the executive chairman, told TechCrunch that this funding round increased the company's valuation by 4 times since its previous fundraise in 2025. Blackwall is based in Estonia and builds these tools for hosting providers. The company does not sell its platform directly to websites.

Over the past few years, web infrastructure companies like Cloudflare, Akamai, Imperva and Blackwall have found themselves in an increasingly valuable but difficult space. They are on the frontlines, dealing with DDoS attacks, indiscriminate scraping, botnet farms, malicious requests, and these days even swarms of AI agents going rogue. TechCrunch called that position a chance to make a killing by helping hosting providers and websites deal with all the potentially unwanted traffic. Blackwall's products address bot traffic, especially AI agents.

Why Blackwall quadruples valuation to $2.2 raised now

The new round tracks traffic that web infrastructure companies are dealing with. Co-founder and CEO Nikita Rozenberg sees a big opportunity emerging in the coming years as AI agents begin interacting and transacting with websites on behalf of their users. That shift should eventually require systems to manage which agents get access, on what terms, and how they are authorized to make payments. Blackwall's current products help websites grapple with the skyrocketing volume of bot traffic, especially those AI agents.

Blackwall is not interested in competing with the bigwigs in its space. Instead of selling its platform directly to websites, the company uses a channel approach, working with web hosting, managed service and cloud providers to understand their needs, then handing over a bundle of tools they can customize. Those providers offer Blackwall's security tools to their own clients under their own branding and retain control of that relationship. Rozenberg argues the advantage is letting those hosting providers offer the traffic management services themselves.

What the Blackwall quadruples valuation to $2.2 money

There is money in it for both sides. Nikita Rozenberg told TechCrunch that hosting companies can mix and match security components to build their own solution for their end customers, set the prices, and share a cut of the revenue with Blackwall. The company initially gives its customers a free tier showing the traffic and threats hitting their network, but charges for any protection or tools to address the threats. Blackwall also provides threat intelligence, certificate management, DDoS protection and traffic routing.

Blackwall plans to use the $100 million to expand operations across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, and to develop more security tooling for hosting, cloud and managed service providers. Those partners already mix and match components and set end-customer prices. Hosting companies share a cut of that revenue with Blackwall after they set the price. Roi Carthy told TechCrunch the round increased the valuation by 4 times since the 2025 fundraise, to the $2.2 billion stated for this round.

Competitive context for Blackwall quadruples valuation to $2.2

Blackwall is not alone in eyeing AI agents that interact and transact with websites on a user's behalf. Cloudflare's AI Crawl Control lets website owners allow or block individual AI crawlers, and there is also an option to charge them for access. Akamai and Imperva are named with Cloudflare and Blackwall as web infrastructure companies in that same difficult space. Blackwall is not interested in competing with those bigwigs by selling its platform directly to websites. It wants the hosting, managed service or cloud provider to keep the client.

Rozenberg argues that Blackwall's advantage lies in letting hosting providers offer traffic management themselves instead of handing the customer relationship to another security provider. Blackwall examines customers' web traffic to differentiate actual visitors and legit AI agents from malicious bots, intruders and disruptive traffic. Rozenberg said the company uses digital fingerprinting to identify the software sending a request, for example Microsoft Office or Codex, to filter out bots. Its own AI models at customers' endpoints analyze intent and behavior, separating a person-sent agent on a real request from a malicious bot.

Open questions on Blackwall quadruples valuation to $2.2

Rozenberg sees a big opportunity in the coming years as AI agents begin interacting and transacting with websites on behalf of their users. That stage should eventually require systems to manage which agents get access, on what terms, and how they are authorized to make payments. The report names no release date, fee or product title for that authorization layer. Services it provides include threat intelligence, certificate management, DDoS protection, traffic routing, digital fingerprinting and endpoint AI models. Cloudflare's AI Crawl Control already lets owners allow, block or charge individual AI crawlers.

The published figures are a $100 million Series C at a $2.2 billion valuation. Roi Carthy told TechCrunch the valuation is 4 times the level since the previous fundraise in 2025. The report does not give the 2025 amount, the split among lead investor AVP, Dawn Capital, MMC Ventures and Tera Ventures, or the revenue percentage shared with Blackwall. Providers set end-customer prices themselves. Expansion names North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, with no headcount or opening dates.