Dasient is a technology company.
Dasient has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round.
Key people at Dasient.
Dasient was founded by Shariq Rizvi (Co-founder and VP of Engineering).
Dasient has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Key people at Dasient.
Dasient was a technology company specializing in internet security, offering cloud-based anti-malware services to protect businesses from web-based malware and malvertising attacks.[1][2][3][4] Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, it targeted sectors like financial services, e-commerce, media, and web hosting by using a dynamic, behavioral-based engine with anomaly detection to scan websites and ads in virtual machines simulating real user experiences.[1][4] The company solved the growing problem of malware infections that caused traffic loss, reputational damage, and revenue declines for online businesses, claiming to have kept millions of websites malware-free by 2011 before its acquisition by Twitter in January 2012.[1][2]
Dasient was founded in 2008 by former Google engineers Neil Daswani (CTO), Shariq Rizvi (VP of Engineering), and former McKinsey strategy consultant Ameet Ranadive (VP of Products).[1][2] The idea emerged from their expertise in tackling fast-evolving web threats, launching its first product—a Web Malware Analysis Platform—in June 2009.[1] Early traction included seed funding from investors like Mike Maples, ex-Verisign CEO Stratton Sclavos, and ex-3Com/Palm chairman Eric Benhamou, followed by a growth investment from Google Ventures in February 2011 to expand markets and R&D; it was also named one of Network World's ten startups to watch in 2010.[1][2]
Dasient rode the early 2010s surge in web malware and malvertising, as internet adoption exploded and threats like infected ads proliferated, outpacing traditional security measures.[2] Its timing was ideal amid rising awareness of blackhat SEO and drive-by downloads, filling a gap for cloud-native, behavioral defenses when most tools focused on endpoints rather than websites.[1][3] Market forces like e-commerce growth and ad network vulnerabilities favored its model, influencing the ecosystem by proving the need for specialized web anti-malware—paving the way for Twitter's ad platform security post-acquisition.[1][2]
Dasient's story ended with its 2012 acquisition by Twitter, likely integrating its tech into Twitter's ecosystem to safeguard ads and user experiences from malware risks.[1] Post-acquisition, its innovations probably shaped Twitter's (now X's) internal defenses amid evolving threats like sophisticated malvertising. Looking ahead, Dasient exemplifies how early web security startups fuel big tech acquisitions; its legacy endures in modern cloud security trends, where AI-driven behavioral detection dominates against AI-generated malware, underscoring the timeless need for proactive web protection in an increasingly hostile online landscape.[1][2]
Dasient was founded by Shariq Rizvi (Co-founder and VP of Engineering).
Dasient has raised $2.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Dasient's investors include Floodgate.
Dasient has raised $2.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $2.0M Seed in February 2009.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2009 | $2.0M Seed | Floodgate |