Sqreen found buyers by making application security easier to adopt, then joined a larger platform
Changing technical requirements
Teams shipping web applications had to protect production software while continuing to release code. Network filters and pre-release code checks addressed parts of the problem, but the founders described a gap between these methods and fast-changing application behavior. For engineering leaders without a large security team, configuration and ongoing security work affected which tools they could realistically operate. SQ2
Step 1 of 4 · 2015–21
Sqreen used agents inside applications to monitor threats and apply protection. Betouin identified startup engineering leaders with little security capacity as one buyer group. Datadog later described the acquired product as joining protection, monitoring and testing. SQ2 SQ4
The relevant choice was how much security work an engineering team could absorb. An application-level tool promised useful context without making the customer assemble every component. This explains a plausible buying benefit. It does not prove that every workload was better protected than it would have been by a conventional firewall or another runtime-security vendor.
Rivals Compare the work of installing and operating Sqreen with a network WAF and a runtime-security rival on the same application.
Step 2 of 4 · 2017–19
Masson recalled plenty of inbound interest but uncertainty about whom to sell to. Examining early customers revealed a niche among experienced CTOs at B2B SaaS companies. In the United States, more mature security requirements initially slowed revenue progress while the team changed the product through frequent feedback. SQ3
This makes the US move a learning period with a cost. The evidence supports a sequence from broad developer interest to a more specific buying situation. It also checks the tempting story that entering YC simply accelerated an already repeatable sales process: the employee account describes a period of adjustment before later growth.
Rivals The alternative was to keep selling the original startup offer to larger US buyers without changing qualification or product expectations.
Step 3 of 4 · 2019–21
By 2019 Sqreen described both startup and larger-company buyers. Masson said the company subsequently built a sales organization with experienced US leadership, formal qualification and recurring deal reviews; he associated that period with its first Fortune 500 customers. SQ2 SQ3
An easy installation did not remove enterprise buying work. Security teams still had to evaluate the supplier and justify a purchase. The change in sales practice helps explain how the company pursued larger accounts, while leaving open how much growth came from product improvements, market demand or better selling.
Rivals An inbound developer channel could identify users, but could it also qualify, fund and close the larger organization?
Step 4 of 4 · 2021
Datadog completed the acquisition on April 12, 2021. Betouin and Masson described a shared developer-oriented approach to security, and Datadog identified application security as the purpose of the deal. Its annual filing records about $219.4 million of consideration for all shares of the application-security company acquired that April. SQ1 SQ3 SQ4 SQ5
The fit was specific: both products instrumented applications, and an existing observability supplier could put security in front of related buyers. The transaction therefore provides a different endpoint from shutdown. It cannot tell us whether Sqreen would have built equivalent distribution alone, or whether the same customers would have bought both products without integration.
Rivals Compare standalone expansion with access to Datadog customers and instrumentation; an acquirer is not a direct rival in every earlier deal.
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