Estonian Cybersecurity Firm Blackwall Joins Unicorn Ranks With €100 Million Raise

Estonian cybersecurity startup Blackwall has raised €100 million in a funding round that values the company at $2.2 billion, according to investor Stanislav Ivanov, founding partner of Tera Ventures.

Blackwall filters bot traffic — separating malicious automated programs from legitimate web visitors. That single product focus has now carried the company past the $2 billion valuation mark, making it the second Estonian unicorn in two weeks.

Where did the money come from?

The round has several investors, but the lead is ABP, a global growth fund whose funds hold a combined value of $2 billion to $3 billion, Ivanov said.

"There are several investors, but the lead investor is ABP, a global growth fund. Their funds have a combined value of $2 billion to $3 billion. This round has established a valuation of $2.2 billion, but if the company continues to grow, we will see higher figures in the future," Ivanov told ERR.

For Tera Ventures, the round caps a six-year journey. The Estonia-linked VC firm first invested roughly $300,000 in Blackwall six years ago — a bet that has since multiplied into a potentially very strong return for the fund.

What convinced the early investor?

Tera Ventures didn't rush in. Ivanov said the firm tracked Blackwall's progress closely before committing.

"We have been monitoring their development, looking at how they were progressing, how their first pilot customers were responding to the service, how the product was developing and what feedback they were getting from the market. Based on that, I think we participated in another two funding rounds before they started raising capital in London," Ivanov said.

The message he draws from the exit potential is strategic as much as financial.

"For us, this naturally means a potentially very strong return for the fund. At some point, the company may go public or another exit event may take place in the future. But above all, we want to emphasize that this is proof that our strategy works," Ivanov said.

An IPO or another exit event remains possible down the line — but Tera Ventures frames the milestone primarily as validation of its early-stage playbook.

Why does this matter for Estonia?

Blackwall follows Skeleton Technologies into unicorn territory within a two-week span. Estonia now counts 12 unicorns, a figure Doris Põld, CEO of the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITL), calls a per capita world record.

"Skeleton and Blackwall. Estonia now has 12 unicorns in total and I think that's more per capita than any other country in the world," Põld said.

She expects more. The recent success stories, she noted, come less from traditional software development and more from deep-tech and cybersecurity firms working alongside other industries.

"I think we will see more good news like this over the next year, especially since the latest success stories have come not so much from traditional software development but rather from deep-tech companies and the cybersecurity sector, particularly in collaboration with other industries. I believe the next strengths of our technology sector will emerge from cooperation with other industries and from deep tech — why not, for example, from combining technology and defense?" Põld said.

ERR was unable to obtain a comment from Blackwall executives on Wednesday.

The takeaway in plain terms: a $300,000 seed check from 2019-era Tallinn has grown into a stake in a $2.2 billion company — and by Põld's read, Estonia's deep-tech pipeline suggests Blackwall won't hold unicorn number 12 for long.