Webclew, a Belgian startup founded by Thomas Ghys, has raised 1.6 million euros in a pre-seed funding round led by imec.istart Future Fund and Syndicate One, with participation from angels including Roeland Delrue (Aikido Security), Klaas Bals (Maurice & Nora), and Koen Dewaele (ex-Deloitte).
The company, which emerged from the need for real-time privacy and data flow audits, uses automated agents to simulate user interactions with web and mobile apps, capturing and classifying every data request to identify privacy and performance issues.
Originally developed as a script to address gaps in tracking user data, Webclew’s technology now provides continuous audits, offering visibility into data flows that would typically take human experts weeks to analyze.
For ad operations teams, the platform helps diagnose revenue drops by detecting issues like broken consent strings or vendor timeouts. Privacy managers benefit from ongoing, automated audits that replace manual processes, delivering interactive data maps across apps, vendors, and jurisdictions.
The funding will accelerate Webclew’s transition from a bootstrapped startup to a venture-backed company, expanding its team from two founders to ten and targeting markets beyond the Benelux, including the EU, UK, and US.
The majority of the capital will be allocated to hiring, with four senior roles in product and sales currently open. Webclew’s departure from Dashdot’s incubation program marks a new phase, as co-founder Maarten returns to the product studio to pursue new ventures. The startup aims to make privacy audits as seamless and continuous as software security, addressing the growing complexity of third-party dependencies and regulatory demands.
