D
Digital Shadows
External threat intelligence and digital risk protection platform
About Digital Shadows
Digital Shadows provides a digital risk protection platform specializing in monitoring, analyzing, and mitigating external threats across the open, deep, and dark web. The company was founded in 2011 by Alastair Paterson and James Chappell, who previously worked together at the multinational defense and security company Detica. Their experience in the security industry provided the initial credibility and connections to shape a viable business model. The idea for the company was partly inspired by observing the vast amounts of sensitive information being shared on new social networks.
Read full description
The firm's core product is the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, SearchLight™, launched in 2014. SearchLight offers cyber situational awareness by providing an "attacker's eye view" of an organization's digital footprint. It continually monitors millions of data sources to detect data loss, secure online brands, and reduce a company's attack surface. The service combines scalable data analytics with human analysts to deliver tailored threat intelligence and remediation options. This helps clients in sectors like finance, healthcare, and government to protect against intellectual property loss and reputational damage. Revenue is generated through subscriptions to its platform and professional services.
Digital Shadows received early seed investment from Passion Capital after participating in the Accenture Fintech Innovation Lab in 2013. Over the years, it raised a total of $58.1M in funding from investors including Trinity Ventures and Storm Ventures. In June 2022, Digital Shadows was acquired by ReliaQuest, a security operations platform provider, for $160 million. The acquisition was aimed at combining ReliaQuest's internal visibility from its GreyMatter platform with Digital Shadows' external threat intelligence capabilities to offer a comprehensive, end-to-end view of security threats.
At a glance
- Status
- Acquired
- Founded
- 2011
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, United States
- Employees
- 98
- Open positions
- None listed
- Dealroom signal
- 69.8/100
- Industry
- Legal, Security
- Sub-industry
- Intellectual Property, Cloud & Infrastructure
- Sector
- Reputation Management, Core AI, Cybersecurity, SafetyTech, Intellectual Property Protection Tech
- Technology
- Artificial Intelligence, Deep Tech, Machine Learning
- Business model
- SaaS
- Client focus
- b2b
Latest news
Press, funding announcements and product moves mentioning Digital Shadows.
Funding history
Company financing events and reported valuations.
| Deal type | Date | Amount | Valuation | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACQUISITIONOther financing | Jun 2022 | $160M | $160M | ReliaQuest | ↗ |
| LATE VCOther financing | Sep 2021 | $0 | — | Eastward Capital Partners | — |
Growth signals
Latest recorded traffic for Digital Shadows is 190 monthly website visits, down 77.4% over the last three months. Digital Shadows's team declined 17.6% over the past year.
Similar companies
Company identity and context are open; selected comparison metrics preview what is available on the platform.
| Company | Headquarters | Status | Employees | Total funding | Valuation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 CipherAI-powered intellectual property database |
London, United Kingdom | Acquired | 5 | $4M | $16M |
 Venari SecurityMaking today's encrypted world more secure and compliant | Venari Security |
London, United Kingdom | Operational | |||
 OhaloUnstructured data discovery, classification, and security platform |
London, United Kingdom | Operational | |||
 RipjarProvides leading global companies and governments with a platform to detect criminal behaviour |
Cheltenham, United Kingdom | Acquired | |||
 WhitebulletScience company with AI based IP trust index to identify and score high risk websites, maximising ROI on ad spend |
London, United Kingdom | Operational | |||
 facia.aiAI-powered facial recognition with liveness detection technology |
London, United Kingdom | Operational | |||
 AmpliphaeSaaS management and encryption intelligence platform |
Belfast, United Kingdom | Operational | |||
 SenseonAI-driven cybersecurity platform for automated threat detection |
London, United Kingdom | Operational |
Investors
From Dealroom's funding and investor records, grouped by the round each investor first entered.
Seed1 investor entered at this stage
Series A3 investors entered at this stage
Storm Ventures
TenEleven Ventures
Trinity Ventures
Series B and later4 investors entered at this stage
Octopus Ventures
World Innovation Lab
NAB - National Australia Bank
Eastward Capital Partners
Other known investors1 additional known investor
ReliaQuest
Source: Dealroom Talent Intelligence.
Global footprint
Market sentiment
An AI-synthesised read of the highest-engagement posts about Digital Shadows on X, ranked by likes and reposts, corporate channels excluded.
Reading the room on X — pulling top posts and synthesizing themes…
Source: X recent search ranked by engagement (likes + retweets) · Synthesis by Claude · Cached for 1 hour
See Digital Shadows’s full profile on Dealroom
Request a free trial to see the complete deal history, financials, people graph and growth signals.
Takes under a minute. Already use Dealroom? Log in.