The Brno-based IT company Whalebone has been growing its revenue consistently for six years and is set to exceed CZK 250 million this year. It is building a cybersecurity shield for the European Union, with telecommunications operators being its most frequent customers. Whalebone is now engaging with European governments.
Nicknamed the "Second Avast," the company has achieved global success in cybersecurity from Brno, just like its predecessor. However, unlike Avast, Whalebone focuses on cybersecurity that does not require users to install antivirus programs. Their protection operates at the level of DNS resolvers, which automatically analyze the safety of websites. Simply put, clients only need to sign a contract to benefit from their services.
“Our primary product, Whalebone Aura, is offered in collaboration with telecommunications operators who provide internet access to customers. If clients subscribe to our protection, Aura ensures they do not access risky websites. When a user enters a web address, our product analyzes the site’s code and blocks access if harmful elements are detected,” explains Whalebone’s CTO, Robert Šefr, in an interview with Agenda SZ Byznys.
The European Commission has tasked Whalebone with creating a cybersecurity shield for EU residents. Under the DNS4EU program, Whalebone provides DNS resolver-based protection to EU institutions and businesses.
“The Commission initiated a project to enable Europe to independently provide DNS-level protection, which is a critical layer of internet security infrastructure. Three years ago, this protection was handled by U.S. companies like IBM and Google. The Commission sought a European alternative to enhance independence and launched a tender for DNS4EU, which was won by a consortium led by Whalebone. The goal is to protect 100 million people,” Šefr explains.
The consortium includes other experts, such as specialists from the Czech Technical University and the Belgian IT law firm Time.lex. The service, set to cost around CZK 350 million, aims to protect approximately one million people by the end of 2024.
“The project has three branches: one targeting commercial use and end users, another focusing on collaboration with European telecom operators, and the third on protection for EU state institutions. National cybersecurity authorities will be offered a customizable product that can be tailored to current threats and distributed to ministries and other institutions. We have developed the technology and will adapt it to the needs of individual countries,” Šefr adds.
The shield is scheduled for completion in 2027. Although the project has reached only 1% of the target of 100 million protected users after two years, Šefr remains confident about meeting the goal.
“For us, 2025 means the Commission’s financial support will end, not that our work on the project will stop. We expect that once packages and communication channels for all three branches are finalized, the number of protected users will grow exponentially. If we do not meet the target by 2025, we will continue our mission without EU funding,” Šefr says.
Whalebone’s revenues have been consistently growing over the past six years, according to the commercial registry. In 2023, the company achieved CZK 130 million, and this year it is on track to double that figure. Its growth has earned it a spot among Deloitte’s 500 fastest-growing tech companies in Europe and Financial Times’ Sifted list of the 30 fastest-growing startups in Central Europe.
In the cybersecurity sector for telecoms, Whalebone competes with U.S. firm Akamai and Israel’s Allot. In securing other corporate networks, its rivals include U.S. companies Cisco and Fortinet.
The original text is in Czech and was sourced from Seznam Zprávy.
You can listen to the full interview with Whalebone CTO, Robert Šefr, at the same link (Czech only).