DuckDuckGo announced on October 23, 2024, that it planned to make more early-stage investments in privacy-focused startups and pursue acquisitions and partnerships. The announcement describes an expanding strategy—not a formal fund or a quantified promise: DuckDuckGo disclosed no fund size, investment range, check size, or target number of deals.
What DuckDuckGo announced
DuckDuckGo said it had already been investing quietly for a couple of years and wanted to do more. Its October 23, 2024 announcement, published under the “Dax the Duck” byline, said: “We’ve actually already been doing this quietly for the last couple years, and we’re energized to do more.” The company also said it was pursuing acquisitions and partnerships alongside investments. DuckDuckGo’s announcement
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The announcement is an invitation to potential investees and partners, not evidence of a dedicated investment fund or a specified capital commitment. It gives no investment amounts, check-size range, or target number of transactions.
Which companies and technologies fit its stated interests?
DuckDuckGo named three broad areas. These are the company’s stated priorities, not a published scoring system or an exhaustive list of eligible businesses.
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Search and browsing
DuckDuckGo called search and browsing its core product area and said it continued to invest most heavily there.
Consumer privacy technologies
The company pointed to its subscription offering, then called Privacy Pro, which included a VPN, personal-information removal, and identity-theft restoration. It said its acquisition of Removaly helped accelerate its personal-information-removal service and that it continued to seek complementary technologies.
Privacy-respecting emerging technologies
DuckDuckGo cited private access to popular AI chatbots as an example of emerging technology it might support. It said investments in AI and other new areas would be made in privacy-respecting ways.
What is known about DuckDuckGo’s earlier investments?
TechCrunch reported on October 23, 2024, that a DuckDuckGo spokesperson said the company had invested in six startups over the preceding three years. The spokesperson named You.com, Removaly, and EverArt. TechCrunch described You.com as a generative AI search company and EverArt as an AI model-training platform. TechCrunch’s report
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How DuckDuckGo says it approaches deals
For early-stage investments, DuckDuckGo said it was flexible on deal structure, aimed to move quickly, and was willing to co-invest with companies, funds, and individuals. It also said it was open to acquiring a range of companies that share its commitment to user privacy, as well as considering partnerships. The announcement did not specify deal terms or eligibility criteria.
Companies interested in an investment, acquisition, or partnership can find the contact route for Mike Marino, SVP of Finance, and Diana Chiu, Director of Corporate & Business Development, in DuckDuckGo’s official announcement.
Quick Recap
What the announcement does not establish
- It does not announce a formal investment fund or state how much capital DuckDuckGo will deploy.
- It does not provide a minimum or maximum investment, check size, or planned number of deals.
- It does not give a complete list of portfolio companies; the six-startup disclosure comes from a spokesperson as reported by TechCrunch.
- The October 2024 sources do not establish what DuckDuckGo has invested in or announced since then.
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