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Gabriel Weinberg is creator of DuckDuckGo.

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DuckDuckGo , the privacy - focalize search alternative to Google , wants to put money into startup that have a standardised focus on privacy .

The company says that it ’s actively seeking startups look for investing , or startups that might be interested in partnering up or being larn . In ablog post today , the caller name - checked its SVP of finance , Mike Marino , and theater director of incarnate and commercial enterprise development , Diana Chiu , as points of touch for those concerned .

DuckDuckGo writes :

For former - level investment , we are elastic on mountain structure , place to move quickly and are felicitous to co - invest with other company , funds , and individual . For acquisitions , we are open to a compass of company that share a commitment to protect user privacy .

establish in 2008 , DuckDuckGo is the handwork of CEOGabriel Weinberg(pictured above ) who fund the company himself for the first three years beforelanding its first external cash injectionin 2011 . In the intervening year , DuckDuckGo attracted some $ 180 million in external investment ( afair glob of which came fromthe secondary market ) , with backers include Tiger Global , Union Square Ventures , and individuals such asWhatsApp co - founder Brian Actonand web - inventorSir Tim Berners - Lee .

DuckDuckGo , which say it has been profitable since 2014 and has had more than $ 100 million in annual gross sinceat least 2021 , positions itself as the antithesis of Google , monetizingthrough ad establish only on the mental object of keyword search rather than user data . It also makes money through “ non - tracking ” affiliate partnerships with the the like of Amazon and eBay . More recently , the companionship has thrive further beyond hunt , offeringsubscription bundlesthat admit features such as a VPN .

Private money

While DuckDuckGo has historically donated to privacy - focused nonprofits such as theElectronic Frontier Foundation(EFF ) , theSignal Foundation , andThe Markup , it has quietly been take a more capitalist advance to how it supports organizations that align with its own goals . Last calendar month , the companyjoined a $ 50 million funding roundinto reproductive AI hunting caller You.com , alongside big - name angel such as Nvidia and Salesforce Ventures .

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Part of DuckDuckGo ’s freshly launchedPrivacy Probundle also include a personal information remotion service , whereby it scans information broker sites to find personal data and requests removal on the exploiter ’s behalf . As thing transpired , this service was power by a startup called Removaly , which DuckDuckGo hadquietly acquiredback in 2022 .

A DuckDuckGo spokesperson recount TechCrunch that the party has invested in six startups over the preceding three year , though would only name You.com , Removaly , and one hitherto unknown one — an AI model grooming platform calledEverArt .

While consumer privateness technical school will be a big focal point for its investing , DuckDuckGo also said it will be investing in companies focused on “ search and browse , ” as well as “ emerging technologies ” like generative AI . Indeed , its late investment in You.com stoppage all these boxes , as itoffers a“zero - hint ” private hunt mode that You.com claims is “ even more private than DuckDuckGo . ”

So while DuckDuckGo has been dabble in the VC and M&A domains already , it ’s now double down on these elbow grease by actively quest that desirable inauguration get to out .

As with other corporation with investment off - shoots , from fully grown gunssuch as Googlethrough pocket-sized tech companies likeTwilioandWorkday , DuckDuckGo will be invest from its equilibrium sheet of paper — that ’s where its lucrativeness and yearly revenues get into play . But devote that it ’s still a relatively small private company in its own right , it wo n’t be join megabucks pre - IPO funding rounds — this is all about early - microscope stage investments .

“ This is the first time we ’ve talked about our investment and the overall scheme around it straight , ” the voice preserve . “ We need to make this declaration to formalize this work that has been happen behind the scenes for a while , and signalise to startup , potential partner , and the declamatory technical school residential district that our doorway is open to anyone who wants to work with us on a more individual net . ”